by Scroll Staff
Amid a row over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pulling down a Muslim woman’s hijab at an event where he was distributing appointment letters to doctors, Union minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday said that it was up to her to refuse the government job or “go to hell”, PTI reported.
The event, during which appointment letters were distributed to newly-recruited AYUSH, or Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy practitioners had taken place at the chief minister’s secretariat in Patna on Monday.
In a video of the incident circulated widely on social media, Kumar is seen pointing towards the woman’s hijab when she came up to collect her letter. The Janata Dal (United) chief is then seen suddenly pulling the garment down.
Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who was standing behind him, appears to intervene and restrain Kumar, while state Health Minister Mangal Pandey and Deepak Kumar, the chief minister’s principal secretary, are seen laughing.
Kumar’s actions led to a controversy, with Opposition parties demanding an apology from the chief minister.
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