Omar Abdullah Slams Nitish Kumar Over Veil Incident, Calls Act Humiliating

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday criticised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for removing the veil of a Muslim woman doctor at an official function, calling the act humiliating and unacceptable, and asserting that a similar incident involved Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti.

“We have seen this before. Did you forget how, during my election, Mehbooba Mufti sahiba pulled down the burqa of a legitimate voter inside a polling station? This is the continuation of the same thing. We saw this many years ago here. That was also regrettable and this too,” Omar told reporters when asked about Bihar CM removing the veil of a Muslim woman.

Omar said that no individual has the right to humiliate another person in public.

“A man doing this is not permissible anywhere. If the Chief Minister did not want to issue an order to her, he could have simply put her aside. But humiliating in front of everyone like this is a very wrong thing,” Omar said.

The J&K chief minister added that such actions undermine democratic values and basic human dignity, especially when they come from those holding constitutional positions.

Omar Abdullah also questioned Nitish Kumar’s political trajectory, suggesting that the Bihar chief minister’s public image may be changing.

“Slowly, slowly, Nitish Kumar—who was once considered a secular and sensible leader—maybe now his reality is coming out,” he remarked.

On the financial health, Omar said that Jammu and Kashmir was not yet financially self-sufficient and remains heavily dependent on the Government of India, a dependence that has increased since the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into a union Territory.

“We are running what we have inherited. Jammu and Kashmir is not financially self-sufficient yet,” Omar said, explaining that they are dependent on the Government of India for a large part of the financial resources.

He pointed out that as a state, Jammu and Kashmir earlier received a share of state and central taxes, which is no longer available after becoming a union Territory.

“As a UT, a lot of our budgetary pressure is directly transferred to the Government of India,” he said.

Despite these constraints, the chief minister asserted that his government has exercised strict financial discipline.

“Over the past 15–16 months, we have made a complete effort to ensure there is no carelessness in financial matters,” Omar said.