They tried to convince the invigilators and the college principal for around 45 minutes but were eventually not allowed any exception to the court order upholding the state government’s ban.
As expected, a high drama was witnessed during the 2nd PUC exam as two petitioners Aliya Assadi and Resham on Friday were not allowed to write their 2nd PUC exam in Udupi after they insisted on taking their exams wearing burqas/hijab (veils).
In an order, the education department had said that students appearing for the PUC exam as well as teachers posted on exam duty cannot wear hijab or any attire of religious identity.
Second PU commerce students Aliya Assadi and Resham who had collected their hall tickets and turned up donning burqas to take the exams at the Vidyodaya PU College in Udupi. The college authorities tried to convince the girls about the High Court order and asked them to write the exam without wearing hijab. However, they refused to write the exam without wearing a hijab. Despite Tahsildar Archana Bhat's intervention, the students demanded that they be allowed to write exams with a piece of cloth over their head, reports Suvarna News 24X7.
The students, after 45 minutes, walked out of the exam hall and returned home.
The exam which began on Friday will go on till May 18. The first paper was Business Studies. Over 6.84 lakh students will write the exam at 1,076 centres across the state. The exams will be held at 1,076 centres across the state amid tight security with cops deployed at various centres to ensure there are no untoward incidents with regard to students following the dress code.
The state Education Minister BC Nagesh has categorically said that students won’t be allowed to take their exams in the hijab. This comes in the wake of many Muslim female students requesting the Minister to allow them to wear their hijabs during the final exams
Talking to the press over the issue of students walking out of exams, the minister said , "We should look at 6 lakh plus students and not just six students. There is freedom for people to come and write exams and at the same time one must follow the uniform rule."
The minister further added that the government does not differentiate between communities. He opined that the government sees Muslim girls as daughters and sisters and want them to get education and stressed that some students have been brainwashed by certain fundamentals.
Many Muslim girls who turned up at the examination wearing hijab said they will remove it inside the separate enclosure and will wear it again after the exam is over.
“Hijab is important and so is writing and passing the exam. Our future depends on our exam results,” a Muslim girl student told reporters in Bengaluru, news agency PTI reported.
The Karnataka High Court on March 15 dismissed petitions seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom. Upholding the state ban, the court had said that wearing a hijab “is not an essential religious practice of Islam” and that the uniform dress rule should be followed in educational institutions where it has been prescribed.
