A woman doctor whose niqab was pulled down by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at an event on December 15 did not join duty on Saturday, PTI reported.
Kumar had pulled down the niqab of the woman, Nusrat Parveen, at an event at the chief minister’s secretariat in Patna during which appointment letters were distributed to newly-recruited AYUSH, or Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy, practitioners.
After a video of the incident was shared on social media, Opposition leaders sharply criticised the Janata Dal (United) leader, and Peoples Democratic Party leader Iltija Mufti filed a police complaint against him in Srinagar.
Amid the row, Parveen did not join work till 7 pm on Saturday and the "possibility window for the day" was closed, PTI quoted Patna Civil Surgeon Avinash Kumar Singh as saying.
“I have been informed that the last date of joining has been extended beyond December 20,” he said. “It remains to be seen whether Parveen joins on Monday or not.”
Vijay Kumar, a surgeon at the Sabalpur public health centre in Patna Sadar – where Parveen was slated to join – also said that she had not joined duty, PTI reported.
“Around five-six people have joined today, and Parveen is not among them... Her name is in the list but we have not received her appointment letter from the civil surgeon office in Patna,” he said.
In neighbouring Jharkhand, state Health Minister Irfan Ansari offered Parveen “a government position in Jharkhand with a monthly salary of Rs 3 lakh, along with government accommodation and a preferred posting”, The Indian Express reported.
“I am a doctor first, and then a minister,” Ansari said. “What happened has hurt the entire medical fraternity and will send the wrong message to India.”
On December 16, human rights organisation Amnesty International had issued a statement against Kumar, describing his actions as an “assault on this woman’s dignity, autonomy, and identity”.
“When a public official forcibly pulls down a woman’s hijab, it sends a message to the public that this behaviour is acceptable,” the human rights organisation said.
Also read:
Pity, contempt and identity: The difference between the hijab and the ghoonghat
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