Javed Akhtar issues clarification as video questioning logic behind hijab resurfaces:
Javed Akhtar issues clarification as video questioning logic behind hijab resurfaces: ‘Nitish Kumar should apologise’
M.U.H
19/12/202516
A video of screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar questioning the logic behind women wearing hijab has re-emerged on social media platforms. This comes just days after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar pulled down a hijab from a woman's face. On Thursday, Javed also shared a clarification via a tweet that despite standing by his views on the matter, he does not agree with what the minister did.
Speaking at the SOA Literary Festival third edition recently, Javed reacted to a question asking if a woman covering her face makes her less strong. Javed asked what the logic behind women wearing hijab was. He questioned whether a woman covering her face is "ashamed" of her face.
Javed was asked at the event held in November, "You said you were raised by women who never wore burqas. So, according to you, they were all strong women. But how does covering yourself up make you less of a strong woman?" Javed replied that both men and women should dress decently; however, a woman doesn't need to cover her face.
Replying to the question, Javed said, "No, it's not about being a strong woman...I can understand from where you are coming. Why should you be ashamed of your face. Why should you be? I believe that revealing clothes – whether men wear them or women – don’t look dignified. If a man comes to the office or college in a sleeveless shirt or short, it’s not a good thing. He should dress decently. And a woman should also be decently dressed."
Javed said that if a woman thinks she covers her face as a choice, then she is "brainwashed." “But what makes her cover her face? What is so vulgar, obscene, undignified about her face that it is covered? Why? What is the reason? This is peer pressure. If given a choice, she is brainwashed. If she says that she is doing it on her own, then she is brainwashed. Because she knows that some peers in her life will appreciate that this is done. If you leave her, then why will anyone cover their face? Does she hate her face? Is she ashamed of her face? What? Why?" further said Javed.
Javed Akhtar wrote in his tweet on Thursday, “Every one who knows me even in the most cursory manner knows how much I am against the traditional concept of Parda but it doesn’t mean that by any stretch of imagination I can accept what Mr Nitish Kumar has done to a Muslim lady doctor. I condemn it in very strong words. Mr Nitish Kumar owes an unconditional apology to the lady.”
A clip from the November event was shared on Reddit. Reacting to it, a person said, "At last, some logical answer. Brainwashed people don't believe they are brainwashed." A Reddit user wrote, "Perfectly described! Let's give them a free environment to grow up in and then give them those choices. 10 out of 10 times, common sense will prevail." Another person wrote, "I love Javed Akhtar, his ideas are beautiful. He's trying to open the minds of younger and older generations stuck in the past and old, useless ideologies."
What Bihar CM Nitish Kumar did recently to a woman wearing hijab
Recently, a newly recruited AYUSH doctor in Bihar was taken aback when CM Nitish Kumar pulled the hijab (veil) off her face, while she was receiving her letter of appointment. The incident took place at Samvad, the CM's secretariat, where appointment letters were given away to more than 1,000 AYUSH doctors.
According to the CMO, the appointees included 685 Ayurveda doctors, while 393 were Homoeopaths and 205 practised the Unani system of medicine. Out of them, 10 appointees were handed over job letters by the CM, while the rest got those online. When it was the turn of Nusrat Parveen, who had turned up wearing a hijab across her face, the 75-year-old CM frowned and exclaimed, "What is this?" The chief minister, who stood atop a raised platform, then bent down and pulled the hijab down.
The flustered appointee was, thereafter, hastily pulled aside by an official present on the occasion, while Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, who stood beside the CM, was seen tugging at the latter's sleeve, in an apparent bid to restrain him, as reported by news agency PTI.
In 2019, Javed spoke to reporters about the burqa and the ghunghat--both veils worn by Muslim and Hindu women, respectively. As quoted by news agency PTI, “If you want to bring a law banning burqa here (in India) and if it is someone’s view, I have no objection...I feel that ‘ghunghat’ should go and the burqa should go. I will be happy. Brother, I have little knowledge of the burqa as there were working women in my family and I haven’t seen the practice at my home.”
