AYUSH doctor Nusrat Parveen has decided not to join the Bihar government service despite having recently received her appointment letter, a decision that follows the controversy surrounding a Samvad event in Patna where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was seen pulling down her hijab in public, an act that has since triggered widespread political and social backlash.
Parveen, who was among several hijab-wearing women attending the government programme, is scheduled to join service on December 20, although her family has been attempting to persuade her to reconsider.
The Wire has quoted her brother, who teaches at a government law university in Kolkata, as saying that the family is of the opinion that she should not be held back for the fault of someone else, though they are well aware of her distress over the incident. Her husband works as a clinical psychologist at a college.
The incident gained national attention after the Rashtriya Janata Dal shared a video clip of the Chief Minister’s interaction with Parveen on its official X handle, following which the footage circulated widely across social media platforms, drawing sharp criticism from netizens, particularly women, who described the act as inappropriate and demeaning.
The RJD questioned the conduct and mental fitness of the Chief Minister through a strongly worded post in Hindi, framing the incident as reflective of a deeper political and ideological shift.
The Congress also entered the debate by condemning the Chief Minister’s behaviour and demanding his resignation, while linking the episode to concerns over women’s safety in Bihar and arguing that such conduct from the state’s highest constitutional authority sent a disturbing message to society at large.
Despite the growing outrage and sustained political pressure, neither Nitish Kumar nor his party nor the Bihar government has issued any official clarification or response more than a day after the video went viral.