Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, among the first leaders to criticise Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the recent hijab controversy, on Wednesday widened the political attack by invoking a past incident involving his rival Mehbooba Mufti.
Calling Kumar’s action an exposure of his “true colours” as an ally of what he described as a communal party, Abdullah alleged that forcibly pulling at a woman’s veil was not without precedent in Jammu and Kashmir, and pointed directly at Mufti for it.
‘A continuation of the same mindset,’ says Abdullah
Speaking on the sidelines of a public event in Srinagar, Abdullah recalled an incident from the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. “We have seen such incidents earlier as well here. During my election, people may have forgotten that Mehbooba Mufti got a legitimate voter’s burqa removed inside a polling station,” he said.
“This is a continuation of the same mindset. That was unfortunate and equally shameful, and so is this incident,” Abdullah added.
The chief minister was referring to an episode in April 2004 when Mufti had lifted a woman voter’s veil inside a polling booth. At the time, Mufti defended her action by saying she was trying to verify the voter’s identity, arguing that veils were sometimes misused to cast bogus votes.
Nitish Kumar’s act triggers political backlash
The renewed sparring followed a controversy involving Nitish Kumar, who drew sharp criticism after pulling at the veil of a woman doctor during a public event earlier this week, when she approached him to receive her appointment letter. The incident sparked outrage across political lines, with several leaders calling it humiliating and inappropriate.
“If the (Bihar) chief minister did not want to hand over the order to her, they could have kept her aside. However, to humiliate her like this is totally wrong,” Abdullah said.
The comments prompted a sharp response from Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Party spokesperson Mohit Bhan accused Abdullah of misdirecting criticism instead of targeting Kumar’s political allies. “They should have addressed Modi Sahab, as he is an ally partner, and asked him to withdraw support from this government. Instead, he is criticising Mehbooba Mufti and others,” Bhan said.
He added that equating Mufti’s attempt to verify a voter’s identity with Kumar’s actions showed Abdullah’s intent. “Comparing it with Nitish Kumar’s actions reflects his mindset,” Bhan said.
Mehbooba Mufti, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, has herself come down strongly on Nitish Kumar over the incident. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, she said she was “shocked” by his behaviour. “Having personally known and admired Nitish ji, I was shocked to see him pull down a young Muslim woman’s naqaab,” she wrote, questioning whether it reflected age or the normalisation of publicly humiliating Muslims.
She also criticised those present at the event. “The fact that people around him watched this horrific incident unfold as some form of entertainment is even more unsettling,” Mufti said, adding that Kumar should consider stepping down.
As the hijab row continues to reverberate beyond Bihar, it has not only intensified scrutiny of political conduct in public spaces but also reopened old wounds in Jammu and Kashmir’s own contentious political history.
