Karnataka: Three petitioners in hijab case skip second examination

Almas AH, Hazra Shifa and Ayesha Pallavkar were to write the Mathematics paper at Vidyodaya PU College, the examination centre for students of Government PU College in Udupi.

Three Muslim girls in Karnataka’s Udupi district did not appear for their mathematics test on Saturday, a day after two girls were turned away from the examination hall as they declined to remove their headscarves. All five students are petitioners in the hijab case.

Students sanitise their hands and undergo thermal testing before appearing for the Karnataka Board exams, in Chikmagalur, on Friday. (PTI)

Almas AH, Hazra Shifa and Ayesha Pallavkar were to write the Mathematics paper at Vidyodaya PU College, the examination centre for students of Government PU College in Udupi . The two students who were not allowed to take the test on Friday were from the commerce stream, while the three were science students whose exams began on Saturday.

Karnataka has been roiled in recent months over the contentious issue of not allowing Muslim girls to wear hijab in classrooms as the headscarves are not part of the uniform. On a plea against the stricture, the Karnataka high court on March 15 ruled that hijab is not an essential part of Islamic practices and the girls will have follow norms set by college authorities. The ruling has been challenged in the Supreme Court.

The southern state is holding higher secondary board exams, which these five girls are taking.

Almas had collected the hall ticket from the college on Friday evening, while the other two did not, an education department official said, seeking anonymity. All three had not attended the practical exam held on February 28 as well.

Two other students of the Government PU College from the commerce stream – Aliya Assadi and Rehman – left the examination centre as they refused to remove their hijab and write the business studies paper on Friday.

Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat had urged chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and education minister BC Nagesh to book criminal cases against Assadi and Rehman for creating a disturbance at the examination centre on Friday.

“Legal action will be initiated and a criminal case would be filed against these students if they try to create a scene on Saturday,” he had said.

“I have spoken to the district administration and the police department. I have directed them to lodge a contempt case against them if they indulge in any drama tomorrow to allow them to wear hijab,” he said. “They are not innocent students; they are petitioners of hijab cases.”

A section of society has been trying to portray India in a bad light by projecting the hijab issue, Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Shobha Karandlaje told reporters in Udupi on Saturday.

“Efforts are being made to support the wearing of hijab in violation of the high court direction,” she said. “They are not following the law of the land and they are proving that they would live according to their whims and fancies. They are not respecting courts, the government and the police system.

Karandlaje demanded stern action against the dissenting students.

“We have the good intention of giving good education, self-respect, and independence to those girls. Those organisations that extend support will not be with the girls in future,” she said. “Their agenda is to make India a culprit at the international level.”