The Karnataka hijab row has taken yet another turn after the two petitioner who had moved court petitioning against Hijab ban in educational institutes were not permitted inside their classroom for their final class 12 board examination after they insisted on taking the exams wearing burqa.
In defiance of the Karnataka High Court order that upheld the ban on burqas in schools and colleges, Aliya Assadi and Resham were bent on giving their exams wearing burqas. They had collected their hall tickets and turned up wearing burqas to take the exams at the Vidyodaya PU College in Udupi.
Pro-Hijab Petitioners Not Allowed To Take Class 12 Final Exams In Hijab https://t.co/QQTLdLVY85 pic.twitter.com/X3GUAO0k1p
— NDTV (@ndtv) April 22, 2022
The duo tried to persuade the invigilators and the college principal for around 45 minutes to allow them to take their exams in burqa but were eventually denied permission citing the court order that upheld the state government’s ban. After being denied permission, the duo quietly left the college without giving examinations.
The class 12 examinations commenced on Friday and will continue till May 18. The first examination was on Business Studies. According to the government, 6.84 lakh students are slated to appear for examinations at 1,076 centres across the state. The government has enhanced security and deployed personnel at various centres to ensure examinations are conducted smoothly and no untoward incident regarding students not following dress code is reported.
BC Nagesh, the state Education Minister, has categorically stated that students not conforming with state’s rules on dress codes won’t be allowed to take their examinations.
Karnataka HC upholds hijab ban
On March 15, the Karnataka High Court had upheld a government order (GO) that empowered college development committees of government colleges in the state to ban all religious attires inside the college premises and mandate uniform dress codes.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi had held that the hijab was not an essential religious practice and hence the constitutional articles that grant religious freedom cannot be used to violate the uniform dress code rules mandated by respective educational institutions.
Karnataka hijab row
Some Muslim students at a Pre-University College in Udipi, Karnataka, petitioned the High Court to be permitted to attend lectures while wearing the hijab. They were denied entry to classes, according to the college administration, since the hijab is not part of the college uniform and so cannot be worn in class. Since then, the students have been holding demonstrations dressed in burqas.
In December 2021, several Muslim students began wearing hijab and burqa to school and college in violation of uniform regulations after meeting with the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student section of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI).
