Jharkhand health minister offers job to woman doctor amid Naqab row involving Nitish Kumar

Jharkhand Health Minister Irfan Ansari on December 20 said he has offered a government job with a monthly salary of Rs 3 lakh, a government flat, a preferred posting and full security to a woman doctor from Bihar, following a controversy involving Nitish Kumar over the alleged removal of her naqab during an appointment letter distribution event in Patna.

Speaking to reporters in Jamtara, Ansari alleged that Kumar had demeaned the naqab and insulted the Muslim community by publicly removing the veil of the woman doctor. “I have invited the woman doctor to Jharkhand and offered her a job with Rs 3 lakh monthly salary, a flat, desired posting and full security,” he said.

“The way a doctor and a woman was humiliated and treated with indecency by pulling her naqab is not merely an attack on one individual but a direct assault on human dignity, honour and the Constitution itself,” Ansari added.
The incident, a video of which has gone viral and triggered a political controversy, took place earlier this week at the Bihar Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Patna, where AYUSH doctors had assembled to receive their appointment letters. As the woman doctor approached the dais, Kumar allegedly questioned her wearing a naqab and removed it.

Meanwhile, a police complaint has been filed against the Bihar Chief Minister in connection with the incident. According to police, social worker Mohammad Murtaza Alam, along with several villagers, submitted a complaint at the Itki police station.

Manish Kumar, officer-in-charge of Itki police station, said the complaint was filed on the basis of a video purportedly showing the Chief Minister removing the woman doctor’s naqab. Police said the matter is being examined.

The incident has sparked sharp political reactions across states, with leaders and rights groups questioning the propriety of the act and calling for accountability.