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Javed Akhtar has always been unabashed about expressing his opinions, even when it involves speaking openly on sensitive subjects like politics and religion. Recently, at the SOA Literary Festival 2025, Javed spoke about the burqa and asked, “Why should a woman be ashamed of her face?” His video from the November event went viral, especially in light of the recent controversy in which Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar came under fire for pulling down a Muslim woman doctor’s hijab during an event in Patna.
At the literary festival, Javed Akhtar was questioned by a student about his earlier remark on being raised by women who did not wear burqas. The student challenged Javed’s thinking on why a woman becomes less strong if she chooses to cover her face. Her question elicited an unfiltered response from Javed, who said, “Why should you be ashamed of your face?” Akhtar asked. “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, it’s not a good thing. He should dress decently. And a woman should also be decently dressed.”
“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?” he asked. Calling wearing a burqa “peer pressure,” Javed said, “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. She knows that some peers in her life will appreciate that this is done.”
Javed further questioned a woman’s choice to cover her face and insisted that it is driven by societal pressure. “If you leave her, then why will anyone cover their face? Does she hate her face? Is she ashamed of her face? What? Why?” he asked.
Recently, Nitish Kumar triggered a controversy after he pulled down the hijab of a newly recruited AYUSH doctor. The incident snowballed, with opposition parties condemning his action and questioning the chief minister’s conduct.
Former actor Zaira Wasim had demanded an uncoditional apology from Kumar. “A woman’s dignity and modesty are not props to toy with. Least of all on a public stage. As a Muslim woman, watching another woman’s niqab being pulled at so casually, accompanied by that nonchalant smile, was so infuriating,” Zaira wrote on X on Monday night. “Power does not grant permission to violate boundaries. @NitishKumar owes that woman an unconditional apology,” the Dangal star wrote on social media.
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