Nitish was being fatherly when he pulled hijab off doctor's face: Bihar minister

Patna, Dec 16 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had acted in a "fatherly" manner when he pulled the hijab off a young woman's face, Minority Affairs Minister Zama Khan said on Tuesday.

The incident, which happened on Monday at a function where AYUSH doctors were handed appointment letters, triggered a controversy "The CM is, perhaps, older than the father of the woman in question. I have a daughter, and I could sense the fatherly affection he had expressed," Khan said, when asked about the incident.

More than 1,000 AYUSH doctors were handed appointment letters at the function, and 10 of them, including one, Nusrat Parveen, who was wearing a hijab, received theirs from Kumar at the Chief Minister's Secretariat.

Kumar, who was standing on a raised platform, exclaimed upon seeing Nusrat Parveen, "what is this?" and pulled the veil down, exposing her face.

Kumar, the longest-serving CM of the state, has been facing flak from political opponents, who have been alleging that the behaviour was proof that he was not mentally sound and, hence, unfit to govern the state.

Khan hit back at the detractors, pointing out, "Only recently has the NDA secured a landslide victory in assembly polls under his leadership. Those trying to create a scandal have a very twisted mindset." "The CM had simply tried to highlight the fact that girls of the minority community, too, are making progress in Bihar. But the mudslingers are causing embarrassment to the poor girl, too," he alleged. PTI NAC SOM