Veil-pulling row: Nitish should apologise to woman doctor, says Omar Abdullah

Mumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar should apologise to the woman doctor whose veil he pulled down at a government function, triggering a massive controversy.

Commenting on Union minister Giriraj Singh defending Kumar, he said one could not expect anything different from the BJP, and added that had a Muslim leader touched a Hindu woman's veil, there would have been "hue and cry".

The incident took place on Monday in Patna when Ayush doctors had gathered at the secretariat to receive their letters of appointment. When the woman came up for her letter, CM Nitish Kumar saw her 'naqab', said “what is this”, and then removed the veil.

Speaking to reporters here, Abdullah wondered what was the need for Kumar to touch the woman's clothes.

''Would you do such an act.. I would not... now I hear the concerned doctor has refused to accept the appointment letter and will not join government service. Nitish Kumar should apologise to her and persuade her to take up the government service,'' he said.

Asked about BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh's statement that Kumar did nothing wrong, Abdullah said, "One cannot expect anything different from that party. If a Muslim leader had touched the veil of a Hindu woman in Haryana or Rajasthan...what a hue and cry there would have been. But since the woman in question here is Muslim, the BJP finds nothing wrong with it." It was not about religion but the Bihar chief minister's actions were unacceptable, he further said.

"How can one touch a woman's clothes like this? Why did Nitish feel the need to touch the woman's clothes? He should realise his mistake and apologise to her," he added.

To a question about Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan's comment that India faced a "total defeat" in aerial fight with Pakistan on the first day of Operation Sindoor, Abdullah said it could be Chavan's personal opinion, but a single leader's comments cannot be termed as the party's view.

"The Congress has not said anything like this. In fact, the Congress and other opposition parties stood in support of the government and the defence forces after the Pahalgam terror attack," he said.

Abdullah was in the city to participate in the 11th edition of India's International Movement to Unite Nations' (IIMUN) role model series.

Speaking about the ''idea of India'' he said, ''I come from a Muslim majority state which would ordinarily have gone with Pakistan (at the time of Partition), especially because it shared a common border. It was not like Junagadh or Hyderabad, which were miles away from Pakistan. We were, in many ways, part of the same territory.

"For Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority state, to have willingly chosen not to go with Pakistan but to join India, that is the `idea of India' we need to protect," Abdullah added.

However, every person's idea of India may not be the same, and "that is where democracy and the rule of the majority come in," he said, adding that there are things he wished were not happening.

"Take my own state, Jammu and Kashmir. In a university that does not have minority status, medical college seats are now being discussed along religious lines. Why should that be the case?" he said.

Abdullah was referring to the controversy which followed after 42 out of 50 candidates who secured admission to the Vaishnodevi medical college's maiden MBBS batch through NEET happened to be Muslim.

He also spoke about the controversy around the composition of the J&K football team for Santosh Trophy. ''There are debates about whether the team has the right balance. As far as I am concerned, the only balance that should matter is between the talented and the untalented," he said.

The only India he wants for our children is an India where merit decides how far they go, nothing else, said Abdullah.

"If someone can play football well, they deserve to be in the team and if they pass the exam, regardless of their religion, they deserve a seat in medical college and the chance to become a doctor,'' he said. PTI MR KRK