"Mehbooba Mufti Also Got Burqa Removed": Omar Abdullah's Reminder Amid Row

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, among the first to critcise his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar over the hijab row, has hit his political rival Mehbooba Mufti with a throwback. Alleging that Nitish Kumar is "showing his true colours" as an ally of a communal party by pulling off a woman doctor's veil, Abdullah gave a reminder that it was Mufti who started the trend. 

"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. This is a continuation of the same mindset. That was unfortunate and equally shameful, and so is this incident," Abdullah said on the sidelines of a public event in Srinagar on Wednesday. 

During the election in April 2004, Mufti had lifted a woman's veil. When criticised for it, she had said she was trying to establish the voter's identity, since the veil is often used as a prop to cast bogus votes. 

Nitish Kumar had sparked a massive row after he pulled at the veil of a woman doctor who had come to receive her appointment letter at a public event earlier this week.

"If the (Bihar) chief minister did not want to hand over the order to her (Muslim woman), they could have kept her aside. However, to humiliate her like this is totally wrong," Abdullah said.

Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party was sarcastic. "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... If Mehbooba Mufti attempted to verify someone's voter ID, comparing it with Nitish Kumar's actions reflects his (Abdullah's) intent," said PDP spokesperson Mohit Bhan.

Mehbooba Mufti, a former Chief Minister of J&K, has strongly criticised Nitish Kumar over the hijab incident.

"Having personally known & admired Nitish ji I was shocked to see him pull down a young Muslim woman's naqaab. Does one attribute it to old age or the normalisation of humiliating Muslims publicly," she had posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"The fact that people around him watched this horrific incident unfold as some form of an entertainment is even more unsettling. Nitish Sahab perhaps it's time you step down" she had added.