WATCH: Nitish Kumar Declines Skullcap At Madrasa Event, Over A Decade After He Rebuked Modi For Same
During a madrasa event, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar declined wearing a skullcap offered by a Muslim leader, passing it to his colleague. This sparked controversy, recalling his 2013 criticism of Modi for a similar refusal.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday politely resisted when a Muslim community leader offered to place a skullcap on his head during a programme of the Bihar State Madrasa Education Board in Patna. Smiling, he held back with both hands, refusing the gesture, before eventually accepting the cap in his hands. He then placed it on the head of his party colleague and Minority Welfare Minister Mohammed Zama Khan.
The video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
#WATCH | नीतीश ने टोपी पहनी नहीं..पहना दी !
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देखिए 'जनहित' चित्रा त्रिपाठी (@chitraaum) के साथhttps://t.co/smwhXURgtc #ChitraTripathiOnABP #Nitishkumar #Politics #AlpshankhyakSamwad #Bihar #JDU #RJD pic.twitter.com/WSa8xZFhOE
A Political Flashback to 2013
The episode drew attention because Nitish Kumar himself had criticised Narendra Modi more than a decade ago for declining a similar gesture. In 2013, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, Nitish had remarked that an Indian leader should embrace both “topi” (skullcap) and “tilak” (Hindu mark), an apparent jibe at Modi, then the Gujarat Chief Minister, who had refused to wear a cap offered by a Muslim cleric.
Nitish had broken ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at that time, opposing Modi’s elevation as the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate, citing the 2002 Gujarat riots. He later allied with the RJD and Congress to win the 2015 Bihar polls, only to return to the NDA in 2017. After another split in 2022, Nitish re-joined hands with the BJP in 2024. The two parties are now preparing jointly for the Bihar Assembly elections due in October–November 2025.
‘Work Done for Muslim Community’: Nitish Kumar
Addressing the madrasa event, the Janata Dal (United) leader highlighted what his government has done for minority welfare. “Muslim women who are abandoned by their husbands face hardships…to support and improve the condition of such Muslim women, the state government started financial assistance of ₹10,000 per month in 2007. This amount has now been increased to ₹25,000 per month,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
He added that, since 2006, graveyards had been fenced to prevent conflicts, and that madrasas had been registered and granted recognition by the government. “Now, madrasa teachers are getting salaries equal to those of government school teachers,” he noted.
Claiming that little was done for minorities before 2005, Nitish said, “We have worked for the development of all sections of society — including Hindu, Muslim, Upper Caste, backward, extremely backward, Dalit, or Mahadalit… Opponents speak unnecessarily, but it holds no meaning. We stay focused on our work.”
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