“We have seen such incidents earlier here as well. During my election, people may have forgotten that Mehbooba Mufti got a legitimate voter’s burqa removed inside a polling station. This is a continuation of the same mindset. That was unfortunate and equally shameful, and so is this incident,” Abdullah said on Wednesday.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah used the controversy surrounding Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the hijab issue as an opportunity to hit out at his political rival Mehbooba Mufti, raking up an old incident involving the latter.
Abdullah alleged that the Bihar Chief Minister was “showing his true colours” as a partner of a communal party by pulling down a woman doctor’s veil. He also claimed that Mufti had done the same in the past.
#WATCH | Mumbai: On Bihar CM Nitish Kumar viral hijab row, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah says, “Forget that she was a Muslim woman, that she was wearing a hijab; how can it ever be right to lay hands on any woman in this manner, to touch her clothes?… What… pic.twitter.com/25ZTw3WscZ
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2025
“We have seen such incidents earlier here as well. During my election, people may have forgotten that Mehbooba Mufti got a legitimate voter’s burqa removed inside a polling station. This is a continuation of the same mindset. That was unfortunate and equally shameful, and so is this incident,” Abdullah said on Wednesday.
He was referring to a 2004 incident in which Mufti had lifted a woman’s veil. After facing criticism, she defended herself, saying she was trying to establish the voter’s identity, as veils are often misused to cast bogus votes.
Nitish Kumar sparked a major controversy this week when he yanked the veil off a Muslim woman doctor who had come to receive her appointment letter at a public ceremony.
“If the Bihar chief minister did not want to give her the appointment order, they could have simply set her aside. But humiliating her like that is completely unacceptable,” Abdullah said.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), led by Mehbooba Mufti, took a sarcastic jab at Abdullah’s remarks. PDP spokesperson Mohit Bhan said, “He should be calling out Modi, who is their coalition partner, and asking him to withdraw support from this government. Instead, he is going after Mehbooba Mufti and others. Comparing her attempt to verify a voter’s identity with what Nitish Kumar did shows Abdullah’s real intentions.”