By Mehr un Nisa
What we saw in Bihar is impossible to ignore. Chief Minister of Bihar, India, Nitish Kumar forcibly pulled the hijab of Muslim woman Nusrat Parveen during an official ceremony. She had come to receive her appointment letter, a moment of pride and achievement. Instead, she was publicly humiliated. This was not accidental. It was deliberate. It was an affront to dignity and a clear violation of constitutional rights.
Why does this matter? The hijab is not just a piece of clothing. For many Muslim women, it is faith, identity, and personal choice. To remove it forcibly is to attack these fundamental aspects of a person’s life. Article 21 and 25 of the Indian Constitution protect personal liberty and religious freedom. Yet here, a senior state authority openly disregarded these protections.
Reacting to the incident, Amnesty International India issued a strong condemnation. Aakar Patel, Chair of the Board, stated: “This act was 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 general public that this behavior is acceptable. No one has the right to police a woman’s faith or clothing.” He warned that such actions deepen fear, normalize discrimination, and erode the foundations of equality and freedom of religion. Amnesty’s response underscores that this was not merely a lapse of judgment, it is a clear human rights violation. International law, including Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, protects religious practice. India’s Constitution does the same. Forcibly removing a hijab violates both frameworks.
And what followed this violation? Not condemnation, but mockery. A BJP minister, Sanjay Nishad, laughed at the outrage. He asked why people were “making noise” over touching a hijab and made a dehumanising, sexualised remark. The audience laughed along. Can you see the danger here? Humiliation became entertainment. Women’s dignity became optional. This is not about one man, it is about a system that no longer flinches.
We have seen this pattern before. After the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, BJP leaders made shocking statements about Kashmiri women. Vikram Saini told party workers they could now “marry fair-skinned Kashmiri girls” and buy land in the region. At the same time, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that “the path to Kashmir has been cleared” and girls from Kashmir could now be brought as daughters-in-law. Public officials speaking about women as if they were trophies. And yet, political accountability was minimal. Nothing meaningful was done.
Now consider October 2025. Former BJP MLA Raghvendra Singh declared he would “arrange the marriage of any Hindu who elopes with a Muslim girl and also arrange employment for them.” Once again, Muslim women’s autonomy was treated as negotiable. Such statements are not harmless rhetoric, they legitimize coercion and put women at real risk.
Step back and connect the dots. A woman’s hijab can be forcibly removed in Bihar. Leaders publicly joke about “marrying Kashmiri girls.” Politicians arrange marriages without consent. Do you see the pattern? Muslim women are being treated as objects. Their religious choices are trivialised. Their bodies are politicised. Their autonomy is threatened. The consequences are not just moral, they are psychological. Fear spreads. Public spaces become unsafe. Participation in education, employment, and politics is discouraged. Humiliation is normalized. Discrimination is legitimized. Accountability is denied.
What does the BJP do in response? Often nothing. They shrug. They deny. They mock. The hijab incident was laughed off. Remarks about Kashmiri women were dismissed. Singh’s statement faced no serious political consequences. Can democracy survive when leaders act without accountability? The state is supposed to protect citizens, not dehumanise them.
This incident is also a reminder of the limits of political rhetoric on women’s empowerment. Muslim women are often cited in speeches as needing protection or liberation. But when a woman is humiliated publicly, her agency is ignored, and her dignity is expendable. Empowerment without consent is just another form of control. Can a society that mocks women while claiming to empower them truly be democratic?
The Bihar incident is not isolated. It must be understood as part of a continuum that includes Kashmir. Muslim women have been increasingly subjected to surveillance, moral policing, and symbolic violence. From restrictions on hijab in educational institutions to online abuse and coercive political statements, their bodies have become battlegrounds. The hijab-pulling episode fits squarely within this pattern.
Acts like these cultivate fear. Muslim women may hesitate to attend public functions, pursue employment, or assert their rights. Visibility itself becomes risky. Over time, the cumulative effect is structural exclusion. Public humiliation operates as a policy tool, disciplining identity through intimidation. Amnesty International’s call for condemnation and accountability is therefore urgent and necessary. Silence is not neutral, it is enabling.
The Bihar incident, the rhetoric about Kashmiri women, and Singh’s statements show a systematic failure to protect rights. The state’s authority, meant to safeguard citizens, has been wielded to strip dignity. Muslim women deserve more than slogans or political rhetoric. They deserve protection, respect, and recognition of their agency. Their religious freedom cannot be a political tool. Their bodies cannot be subject to public debate. Their dignity cannot be conditional.
Public humiliation must not be normalized. Accountability must be enforced. Resignation, apology, and legal action are not excessive, they are necessary. Democracy is tested when leaders abuse power, not when they act appropriately. Respect for human dignity, equality, and religious freedom must be non-negotiable.
Ask yourself: how many more incidents will India tolerate? How many threats to women’s freedom, and how much systemic disrespect, before dignity and human rights are upheld consistently? The time to act is now. Public officials must protect citizens. Muslim women’s rights, autonomy, and dignity must be defended without exception. Anything less signals not just a failure of leadership but a failure of democracy itself.
The author is the head of the research and human rights department of Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR). She can be contacted at the following email address: mehr_dua@yahoo.com, X @MHHRsays