Hijab row: Karnataka students, who moved HC, skip 2nd year exam over attire

The Karnataka high court on March 15 upheld the ban on hijab saying it “is not an essential religious practice of Islam”

BENGALURU: At least two of the eight students, who moved the Karnataka high court against the hijab ban, were unable to take their second-year pre-university college (PUC) exams as they were denied entry into the examination centre in the Udupi district.

The hijab ban triggered protests. (ANI PHOTO)

Resham and Aaliya Assadi, the two students, were seen walking away from the centre in a video shared widely on social media.

“Aaliya and Resham collected their [examination] hall tickets this morning,” Udupi’s Government Girls PU College principal Rudre Gowda said. He added the exam centres were randomised and he did not know if the students took the examination. Gowda said some students, who were part of the agitation against the ban, are from the science stream and their exams commence on Saturday.

The second-year PUC exams started on Friday.

At least eight students were stopped from entering classes with hijab in December before the College Development Council issued an order banning headscarves on campuses on January 1. Students staged protests against the ban even as the authorities maintained that hijab was never allowed inside classrooms.

Some students wearing saffron shawls began counter-protests in February. On February 3, a video of a college principal shutting the gates on at least 25 hijab-wearing students went viral on social media.

The Karnataka high court on March 15 upheld the ban on the hijab saying it “is not an essential religious practice of Islam”.