Last week, millions of people watched a video in which Bihar’s chief minister, Nitish Kumar, is seen pulling off the hijab of a woman standing before him at an official function. The occasion was a government programme under the AYUSH scheme for the distribution of appointment letters to newly appointed doctors. The woman had come, like others present there, to receive the document that marked her entry into employment.In our times, getting a government job has itself become an event – something rare, almost extraordinary, and therefore must be a performative act. Now, formal ceremonies are organised to distribute appointment letters. Those who get jobs line up to receive their appointment letters from chief ministers or the prime minister, as if these were a kind of ‘prasad’ bestowed by them. Now the chief ministers or prime ministers ‘give’ jobs and ‘give’ rations. This in itself is deeply humiliating, but no one talks about it anymore. This is because the idea of individual dignity is steadily losing ground in India. The rulers are crushing it, and society, too, has lost all sense of proportion. The ruler has begun to be seen as a father or a mother figure. The people have become their children.Indian parents have long been accustomed to treating children arbitrarily and without any restraint. Forcibly grabbing a child, pulling them into one’s lap, kissing them without their consent – all this is part of our social habits and everyday conduct. If you say that a child has a will of their own, autonomy of their own, dignity of their own, people will stare at you as if you have lost your mind altogether. That a daughter or son might choose a life of their own is unacceptable to many, and for this “crime” parents have even gone to the extent of taking away the life they believe they themselves have given them.The ruler is the ‘mai-baap’, therefore, he may deal with his subjects as he pleases and as he chooses. Those who desire fatherly affection must also learn to endure a father’s anger, his rudeness, or his crassness.Nitish Kumar is smiling as he pulls away the veil from the woman’s face. The officials and leaders standing close to him are smiling too, sharing in the moment. One can see laughter. The woman is stunned and visibly shaken. It is reported that she has been so unsettled by Nitish Kumar’s act that she is reconsidering the very idea of taking up this job in Bihar. She is said to be in a state of utter confusion and is trying to figure out how a woman can be treated in this manner by a person in a public office.Nitish Kumar has not expressed any regret so far; an apology is clearly entirely out of the question. Spokespersons of his government and party are trying to brush the incident aside by saying that he is respected and elderly and merely wanted the woman’s face to be clearly visible. But that is precisely the point. The woman did not want to show him her face. Otherwise, why would she be wearing a veil? Does a chief minister have the right to see and display someone’s face against their will? Or the right to place someone deliberately in such discomfort and humiliation?Before going further, it is necessary to say that this is not the first instance of such rude or crass behaviour by Nitish Kumar. Earlier, too, he has been seen on public platforms pulling and tugging at women in full public view. A police officer once told me that a cordon is now maintained around Nitish because it is impossible to predict his physical behaviour or anticipate his actions. He no longer has control over himself. Therefore, we are told, this act too should be forgiven in view of his deteriorating mental health. Leaving aside the question of forgiveness, the people of Bihar should be concerned that their chief minister is a person whose senses are no longer under his control and who is perhaps unwell. How can the responsibility of policy making and its implementation for an entire state be left to such a person?Was information about Nitish Kumar’s apparent mental imbalance properly conveyed to the people of Bihar in a transparent manner? Did voters vote in his favour despite knowing this fact? What does this tell us about the health of our democracy and its institutions?If Nitish Kumar’s mind is indeed unstable, one may feel sympathy for him on that account and for his condition. But then he should receive treatment and be kept away from public responsibilities and public platforms. But ill health cannot be an excuse for violating someone’s dignity. The reactions after this incident, however, also reveal something deeply troubling about the mental health of our society. Not a single person from Nitish Kumar’s party expressed regret for the discomfiture and humiliation of the woman. They did not even say that his mind is no longer functioning properly and that what he did was not done in full consciousness, and therefore, he should be forgiven.Instead, they are offering arguments in defence of the chief minister’s indecency. They say that the chief minister cannot be called anti-woman or anti-Muslim because he has done many things in the interest of both. If you have helped me in some way, does that give you the right to behave indecently with me? And secondly, that woman is an independent person, a separate individual; her body is her own body. In the name of being a well-wisher of Muslims, you cannot violate the individuality of a Muslim woman.Also read: ‘She Is Too Hurt’: AYUSH Doctor May Not Join Govt Service After Nitish Kumar Hijab IncidentNeither the leaders of Nitish’s ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), nor any minister in the government have expressed regret over the chief minister’s public indecency and misconduct. So far, we have not read a single newspaper editorial condemning this act or even questioning it seriously. On social media, however, many people – who appear to be Hindus – are using the occasion to offer lessons that Muslim women should liberate themselves from the veil and hijab. Many are citing Iranian women, pointing out how powerfully they protested against the hijab – as if Nitish Kumar were advancing that very movement in India and acting in its name.Following this, we have seen reports of demonstrations in which people from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) are opposing Muslim girls wearing hijab in educational institutions. Earlier, at one place, Hindu boys draped saffron scarves around their necks in protest against Muslim girls’ hijab. One may ask: Which rights of Hindus are being violated by Muslim women’s hijab? Why are they competing with them by wearing saffron in response?Separate from Nitish Kumar’s illness is this spreading mental illness within Hindu society – more dangerous and more pervasive than his ailment. One might call it a reformist disease or reformist frenzy. But this reformism is reserved only for Muslims. Hindus believe that they have the right, or even the duty, to liberate Muslim women from their religion and from the oppression of their men. In this process, they also consider it their right to humiliate Muslim women publicly.Over the past 11 years, we have observed this tendency growing steadily within the Hindu community. Humiliating Muslim women, snatching off Muslim men’s caps, pulling their beards – much of this now goes unreported in many places and passes without remark. Some people have even begun to complain that hijab and cap-beard frighten them and make them uneasy.Nitish Kumar’s mental imbalance has once again exposed the deformity of a section of Hindu society. Along with Nitish, this too is in urgent need of immediate treatment and serious introspection.Apoorvanand teaches Hindi at Delhi University.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.