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Nitish’s hijab-pulling unmasks many; politicians, journos defending Bihar CM reveal misogyny, sexism – Alt News

    Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s act of pulling off a woman doctor’s hijab was reprehensible, raising serious concerns about the issues of dignity, respect, consent, personal boundaries, and limits of political authority. But the lengths to which some politicians, journalists and influencers went to defend Kumar’s action by rationalising the incident and normalising such conduct were no less revolting. 

    On December 15, an official government function was held in Patna at the chief minister’s secretariat for distributing appointment letters to new AYUSH doctors. As Dr Nusrat Parveen came forward to receive her letter of appointment, video footage captured Nitish Kumar gesturing towards her veil/niqaab, asking a question about it and then pulling it down. 

    Readers would agree that when an action like this emanates from a place of power, it carries consequences that go beyond the individual moment. Expectedly, the act was criticised widely, with many considering it a violation of a woman’s bodily autonomy and not just mere personal discretion. Additionally, it also undermined the basic constitutional boundary between power and an individual’s rights by disregarding both a woman’s choice of dressing and a citizen’s right to religious expression in public, a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.  

    According to reports, Parveen has decided not to join the services starting December 20. 

    Amid the widespread criticism, a section of politicians and prominent social media handles found, or at least tried to find, ways to defend Nitish Kumar. In doing so, they only made matters worse. The arguments put forward in defence of Nitish Kumar’s betray misogyny, deep-rooted patriarchy and a lack of basic understanding of ideas like consent, agency and free will.

    Giriraj Singh: ‘Nothing Wrong’, Woman ‘May Refuse, May Go to Hell’

    BJP MP and Union minister Giriraj Singh defended Nitish Kumar’s action, dismissing the incident as “nothing wrong”. When informed that the woman had decided not to join the service, Sing said, “Whether she refuses the job or goes to hell, that’s her choice.”

    While talking to the media, Singh asserted that India was “not an Islamic state” and questioned why a woman should cover her face while receiving an appointment letter. He drew comparisons to passport verification and airport security procedures. “This is India, here Indian laws should prevail. What Nitish Kumar did was right!” he declared. 

    Sanjay Nishad: What if Nitish ‘Touched Somewhere Else’

    Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad, the founder and national president of NISHAD (Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal), went a step further than Singh. Defending Nitish Kumar’s conduct, Nishad said, laughing, “He is a man too, isn’t he? Now, one should not go too far with this. Think if touching the naqab is being made such an issue, then what would have happened if he had touched somewhere else? (Wo bhi toh aadmi hai na. Aab piche toh nehi paar jana chahiye. Chhu diya naqab toh esa hai, kahi aur chhu dete toh kya hota.)

    After facing a lot of criticism and backlash for his comment, he claimed that his comment was a light-hearted, casual comment made in Hindi, which lost its meaning in translation, and was thus misunderstood.  He said, “If someone has taken offence, I am willing to take back my words”, the UP fisheries minister told PTI. 

    Aparajita Sarangi: Nitish’s Behaviour ‘Innocuous’, Outrage ‘Manufactured’

    BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, in an interview with India Today, dismissed the backlash as “manufactured outrage”, expressing her surprise at the scale of criticism surrounding Kumar’s action. She argued that there was no malicious intent or any attempt to target any particular religious community by Kumar. She characterised the act as “absolutely innocuous behaviour”. 

    According to Sarangi, the chief minister’s action stemmed from what she described as an affection towards the appointed doctor. She claimed that Kumar’s intention was for a talented, well-educated woman to “show her face” to the world through the camera. 

    Questions that Sarangi chose to skirt while putting out these arguments include how Nitish Kumar was entitled to override the woman’s personal choice and rob her of her agency regarding her bodily autonomy in a public setting. 

    It should not require reminding that a woman has the right to choose whether or not to show her face to the world. That decision belongs solely to her. 

    Bihar Minority Minister Zama Khan: Nitish ‘Fatherly’, ‘Affectionate’

    JD(U) leader and Bihar minority welfare minister Zama Khan defended chief minister Nitish Kumar’s act by describing it as “affectionate” and “fatherly.” Khan mentioned that the doctor was like a daughter to him, and as a proud father, he simply wanted to showcase her success to the world. He emphasised that Nitish Kumar acted like a guardian and was naturally compassionate. Khan also stated that Kumar had deep respect for the minority community.

    Journalists Nabila Jamal, Chitra Tripathi Defend Kumar’s Intent

    Nabila Jamal, the executive editor of TV9 Network, shared a video of the incident and expressed her viewpoint, suggesting that Nitish Kumar was acting as a fatherly figure. She interpreted his actions as an attempt to convey to the young doctor that she should not hide her face and that she belongs there with dignity and equal standing.

    Jamal, while responding to MP Priyanka Chaturvedi’s dismissal of Jamal’s viewpoint, said that Kumar’s approach was wrong, “but his intent was clear- he wanted to show her face. That isn’t unreasonable.”

    It is not clear how Jamal was so certain about Kumar’s intentions. Even if she was privy to them, it is deeply problematic that she fails to realize that Kumar, whether he is a chief minister or a private individual, does not have the authority to decide for a woman whether she should ‘show her face’.

    ABP’s Chitra Tripathi agreed with Nabila Jamal and defended Kumar’s conduct and ‘intentions’. She asserted that when people talk about equality, there is no need for a veil on the faces of little girls. 

    The ‘little girl’ or ‘bachchi’ in question is an educated adult receiving an appointment letter as an AYUSH doctor. 

    Journalist Akhilesh Anand noted that Kumar was observed pulling a woman’s burqa ‘slightly’ away from her face. He characterised Kumar’s gestures as fatherly and insisted that there was no malicious intent behind them. However, he agreed that from another point of view, invading a woman’s personal space and removing her veil without her consent was wrong, and as an elected leader, he should be aware of his actions. 

    Journalist Meenakshi Joshi, a senior editor at IndiaTV News, remarked that the entire “Muslim ecosystem” seemed to spring into action when Nitish Kumar removed a doctor’s hijab. However, she alleged, after a man killed his wife and two daughters because they did not wear a burqa while going to their parental home, that same ‘ecosystem’ was strangely silent.

    It is to be noted that Joshi did not criticise Kumar’s conduct. On the other hand, by comparing a public act by a politician with a criminal case of domestic violence, she missed several key points — the two incidents are fundamentally different in context, scale and implication. 

    X user Jitendra Pratap Singh (@jpsin1), who peddles communal disinformation and pro-BJP propaganda almost on a daily basis, shared a bizarre and disturbing video, where a boy on roller skates pulls down a woman’s salwar. In the caption accompanying the video, Singh drew a comparison with Nitish Kumar’s action. Referring to Bangladesh, he claimed that such acts against women attracted little criticism, and the “Islamic world” found fault when an Indian chief minister removed a woman’s burqa for verification. 

    Readers should note that this user is followed on X by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The user’s X profile picture and header photo show him posing with the PM.

    The whataboutery apart, almost every argument put forward by the user is invalid. It was not the CM’s job to face-match the new appointees. 

    Secondly, the video from Bangladesh in question was a scripted one and created by a Bangladeshi roller-skating influencer and Tiktoker named Raqib. He has since retracted the video, apologised for it and clarified that another boy was dressed as a woman for the purpose of the video. 

    Till now, Nitish Kumar has not publicly apologised for his actions and for invading her personal space without the consent of Parveen.

    Not the First Time Nitish’s Acts have Drawn Public Criticism 

    On October 4, 2025, Nitish Kumar attended a skill convocation ceremony for ITI toppers from across the country on a virtual platform. Prime Minister Modi was also present in the programme and presented certificates to the students as a part of the Kaushal Deekshant Samrosh 2025 initiative. During the ceremony, Kumar was seen folding his hands for nearly a minute while another leader, deputy CM Samrat Chowdhury, read out the details of the programme. 

    In May, during an appointment letter distribution ceremony at the Lalit Narayan Mishra Institute in Patna, CM Nitish Kumar was captured placing a welcome plant on the head of the additional chief secretary S Sidhartha.

    During March 2025, first, at a sports event in Patna, Kumar was seen laughing and seemingly distracting his chief secretary while singing the national anthem.

    And again, in a cooperative program, Kumar was seen grabbing a woman who was being awarded by the shoulder and forcefully positioning her to face the camera.

    In November 2023, while making a speech in the assembly, the Bihar chief minister used rather bizarre hand gestures to suggest that educated women could guide their partners to withdraw before ejaculation, which could serve as a method of birth control.

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