On Tuesday (March 15), the female Muslim students of a government Pre-University College (PUC) refused to write exams, hours after the Karnataka High Court held that ‘hijab’ is not an essential practice in Islam.
As per reports, the incident took place at the Surapura Taluk Kembavi Government PUC in Yadgir city of Karnataka. The preparatory exam was scheduled between 10 am and 1 pm on Tuesday.
In a video shared by The Quint journalist, a group of Burqa-clad students could be seen staging a walkout. She had tweeted, “Students of a Govt PU college in Yadgiri, Karnataka boycott classes and exams in protest of the High Court judgment that upheld ban on hijab in educational institutions.”
Students of a Govt PU college in Yadgiri, Karnataka boycott classes and exams in protest of the High Court judgment that upheld ban on hijab in educational institutions. @TheQuint pic.twitter.com/usHioa0cyJ
— Nikhila Henry (@NikhilaHenry) March 15, 2022
After the verdict was pronounced, the Muslim students boycotted the exam and walked out of the examination hall. Shakuntala, the college principal, had urged the students to adhere to the court order but it was in vain.
“But they refused and walked out of the examination hall. A total of 35 students walked out of the college,” she informed. One of the students even threatened to not write exams until she is allowed to wear a hijab.
“We will write our exam wearing hijab. If they ask us to remove hijab, we will not write exams,” the student warned. Other Muslim students said that they would discuss the matter with their parents and decide accordingly.
Hijab row and the verdict of the Karnataka High Court
Last month, some Muslim students from a PU College in Udupi filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court to allow them to attend classes wearing Hijab. They were denied entry into classes after the college management made it clear that the hijab is not part of the uniform. Since then, the ‘students’ launched protests while being dressed in burqas.
The Muslim students had started wearing hijab and burqa to their school, college in defiance of the uniform rules since December 2021 after coming in touch with the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student wing of the Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in October 2021. The students had admitted being in consultation with the CFI.
Subsequently, the lawyers representing the Muslim students had cited Sharia in the secular court to make a point on hijab, claiming that it is an essential religious practice and is mandatory for Muslim women.
However, on Tuesday (March 15), the Karnataka High Court held that Hijab is not an essential practice in Islam and that uniform is a reasonable restriction on the Right to Religion. The court further stated in the order that no case is made out for invalidating the Government Order of February 5, 2022.
Following the verdict, liberals and Islamists took to Twitter to cast aspersions on the independence of the Judiciary.
