International Booker Prize-winning Kannada writer and social activist Banu Mushtaq on Friday (December 19) strongly condemned Nitish Kumar’s act of removing the niqab of a Muslim female doctor and termed it indecent. CM Nitish had removed the mask of Dr. Nusrat Parveen in a program of giving appointment letters to the doctors of AYUSH department at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Patna.
Banu Mushtaq said at the Pune Literature Festival on the sidelines of the Pune Book Festival that from a feminist point of view, there is no religious order in Islam which forces women to cover their faces. He said, ‘Such practices are not Islamic but cultural. While studying the Quran and Hadith, I did not find any instructions in which women were asked to cover their faces. In some areas, women cover their entire face except the eyes, but this is a cultural practice, not a religious order.
What did Banu Mushtaq say about Nitish Kumar?
Condemning both the act of forcing women to cover their faces and the conduct of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Mushtaq said that in a secular country like India, personal belief should not conflict with democratic values. She said, ‘Living in a secular country, being a Muslim woman, I believe that my personal faith should not conflict with democratic principles. So much caution should be taken. Covering the face can create apprehension in others. Face is the identity of a person. There is no religious order to cover it, yet it is being done.
It is inappropriate to remove a woman’s niqab: Mushtaq
Mushtaq said that the Bihar Chief Minister might have wanted to verify the identity of the recipient while handing over the appointment letter, but his action was inappropriate. He stressed, ‘They may have had the right to verify whether the appointment letter was being given to the right person or not, but that does not justify removing the niqab of the woman. I condemn this act. This is not expected from an elected public representative holding the post of Chief Minister. He did not follow dignity, democratic values and his constitutional duty.
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