Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sparked a political row after he was seen on video removing a hijab from a woman’s face during a government event in Patna.. The opposition condemned the act it says nothing but public harassment of a woman by an elected chief minister.
The viral video involving the 74-year-old chief minister was from an event where Nitsky Kumar presented certificates to AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) doctors. Kumar is seen asking a newly recruited AYUSH doctor to remove her hijab and he eventually pulls it off, according to news agency PTI.
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The incident, the video clip of which has gone viral on social media, took place in ‘Samvad’ Secretariat of the CMwhere appointment letters of more than 1000 AYUSH doctors were handed over. The Mint could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Kumar on Monday circulated appointment letters to newly appointed 1,283 AYUSH doctors for the post in the state capital. According to chief minister’s officeAmong those named were 685 Ayurvedic doctors, 393 homeopaths and 205 practicing the Unani system of medicine.
Out of them, 10 appointees were given job letters by Kumar while others got them online.
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When it was Nusrat Parveen’s turn, who appeared wearing a hijab over her face, Nitsky Kumar he frowned and exclaimed “What is this?”. The Chief Minister, who was standing on a raised platform, then bent down and pulled off the hijab.
The concerned appointee was then hastily pulled aside by the official present on the occasion, while Deputy CM Samrat Choudharywho was standing next to Kumar, was seen pulling his sleeve in an apparent attempt to restrain him.
Opposition parties like RJD and Congress shared the video clip on their social media accounts and claimed that the incident was the latest proof of the “unstable mental health of the JD(U) supremo”.
The Congress party called Kumar’s act “disgusting” and said he should resign as chief minister, while the RJD wondered if it was evidence of deterioration in his mental health.
“What happened to Nitish ji? His mental state has now reached an absolutely pathetic state,” the page wrote in Hindi on X.
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RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad said Kumar’s withdrawal of hijab shows the JDU-BJP coalition’s attitude towards women.
“Removing the female veil is in a way an act of wresting away the right to live according to one’s culture and culture. religious freedomwhich is guaranteed to all by the Constitution of India and its constitutional system,” Ahmad said.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also reacted to the act, calling it “utterly reprehensible”.
What happened to Nitish ji? His mental state had now reached an absolutely pitiful state.
“This is absolutely condemnable and the force of removing the veil is nothing but public harassment of a woman by the CM-elect,” she said in a post on X.
