New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is facing sharp criticism from Opposition parties after a video emerged, showing him pulling down the hijab of a newly appointed AYUSH practitioner during an event in Patna.
The incident, according to local reports, occurred at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat during an appointment letter distribution ceremony for 1,283 AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy) practitioners.
Reports said that when Nusrat Parveen, wearing a hijab, came on stage to receive her letter, Kumar gestured towards her headscarf, asked, “What is this?”. He then pulled it down from her face before she could react.
The 11-second clip shows Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who was standing beside Kumar, reaching for the chief minister’s arm as if to stop him.
The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), on its official X account, questioned the chief minister’s health. “What has happened to Nitish ji? His mental state has now reached a completely pitiable condition, or has Nitish Babu become 100% Sanghi now?” the party wrote.
RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad told The Indian Express that Kumar’s action was a violation of constitutional rights, and demanded an apology from the CM.
Congress labelled the act “shameful”, “vile” and “disgusting”, and demanded Kumar’s resignation.
“Pulling a woman’s hijab while handing her an appointment letter — this is extremely shameful and reprehensible. When the head of the state does such an act openly, what confidence can there be in the safety of women? Nitish Kumar should immediately resign,” the party’s Bihar unit posted on X.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi termed it “public harassment” and “absolutely condemnable”.
But JD(U) chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar defended the chief minister, saying the incident should not define him or the party. “One should look at the larger picture of what Nitish Kumar has done for women’s empowerment and minority welfare. A stray visual image should not be played up unnecessarily by the Opposition,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Bihar’s Minority Welfare Minister Zama Khan told news agency ANI that the Chief Minister respects everyone.
“He always assures everyone he is a guardian more than a CM. The girl in the video is like a child to him, and his action might have come out of affection… Nitish Kumar respects minorities a lot, and it hurts to see people raising fingers at him,” he said.
Separately, BJP leaders posted an apparently older video of former Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, who is seen in the clip removing a woman’s “ghoonghat (veil)”. BJP’s Radhika Khera, posting the Gehlot video, asked in a post on X why the Congress hadn’t defended the Hindu community then.
The latest controversy has revived criticism over Kumar’s fitness for office. Election strategist Prashant Kishor had questioned the CM’s mental and physical health ahead of Bihar elections earlier this year. Kishor later told NDTV his concerns were “not about age”.
The row comes a month after Kumar took oath as chief minister for the 10th time following assembly elections that saw the JD(U)- and BJP-led alliance win over 200 of 243 seats in Bihar.
Also Read: 10-point guide to Bihar election results: Lalu, Nitish & BJP’s hawk eye
Just FYI – the hijab symbolises ‘this woman has a good character and should not be harassed’ and by implication ‘non-hijabis are concupiscent’.
Leaving it to you to decide who’s right.