‘Had a Muslim man lifted a Hindu woman’s veil…’: Omar Abdullah amid hijab row involving Nitish Kumar

J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah

Amid the ongoing row over Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s viral video showing him pulling down a woman doctor’s veil, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said the BJP would have caused a huge uproar if the same happened with a Hindu woman.

His remarks came as several leaders came out in the JD(U) leader’s support, with union minister Giriraj Singh saying that he did nothing wrong.

Reacting to Giriraj Singh’s remarks, Abdullah said, “This is exactly what we can expect from the BJP. If it had been a Hindu woman from Rajasthan or Haryana, wearing a veil, and I had removed it, would the BJP have said the same thing?  Imagine the uproar if a Muslim leader had removed the veil of a Hindu woman. But now, because it was a Muslim woman doctor, the BJP's reaction is different. What else can we expect from them?”

The incident, a video clip of which has been circulated widely and sparked a major political row, took place at the chief minister’s secretariat in Patna when Ayush doctors had gathered to receive their letters of appointment.

When the woman came up for her letter, Kumar saw her 'naqab', said “what is this” and then removed the veil.

As opposition parties asked Kumar for an unconditional apology and others articulated their distress, Union minister Giriraj Singh waded right into the row and said it is up to the woman to refuse the appointment or "go to hell".

Kumar, Singh insisted, had done nothing wrong.

"If someone is going to collect an appointment letter, should they not show their face? Is this some Islamic country? Nitish Kumar acted as a guardian," he argued.

"If you are going to get a passport, do you not show your face? When you go to the airport, do you not show your face? People talk about Pakistan and Englishtan, but this is India. In India, the rule of law prevails," Singh said and added that Kumar did the right thing.