Students wearing the hijab will not be allowed to appear for the second pre-university course (PUC) examinations scheduled to begin on March 9, Karnataka education minister BC Nagesh said.
“Just like last year, students must wear the uniform and write the examination. Students wearing the hijab will not be allowed to write the exam. Rules have to be followed. The educational institutions and the government are acting as per the set rules,” said Nagesh.
The minister also said there was an improvement in the number of Muslim students who appeared for the examinations after the hijab ban, however, he did not provide any exact numbers to substantiate his claims.
“More Muslim sisters appeared for exams after the hijab ban, and there are now more Muslim girl students enrolled. our figures show that after the hijab problem, the number of Muslim sisters who appeared for examinations and their enrolment ratio has increased,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday turned down a plea for an immediate listing of pleas seeking a directive to government institutions in Karnataka to allow students to appear for examinations wearing the hijab.
“I will create a Bench,” said a Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud after an advocate sought an urgent hearing of the petition on the ground that the girls were on the verge of losing another academic year as the examinations were to commence from March 9 in government schools which didn’t permit hijab.
The Supreme Court closes for the Holi break on March 6 and will reopen on March 13.
On March 15 2022, a three-judge bench comprising chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, justice Krishna S Dixit and justice JM Khazi delivered a 129-page verdict, in which they ruled that the hijab was not an “essential religious practice”, paving way for the ban on hijab in pre-university colleges in the state.
The verdict came after eight Muslim students, who were stopped from entering class wearing the hijab, approached the court.
On January 1 2022, the college development council (CDC) passed an order banning the hijab inside college/school campuses, leading to students sitting outside the college building, but within the campus, in protest.
College authorities maintained that the hijab was never allowed inside classrooms. By February last year, as the controversy spread across the state, there were counter-protests with some students wearing saffron shawls.
On February 3, a video of the government PU college principal shutting the gates on at least 25 hijab-wearing students in Udupi’s Kundapura turned the issue into a wider movement.
The controversy has since manifested itself in ugly ways in Karnataka where right-wing groups have extended demands to ban halal meat, azaan prayers on loudspeakers, restricting Muslims from taking part in temple fairs, and getting the Hindu community to stop doing business with Muslims.
Source- Hindustan Times.
