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Karnataka SSLC exams begin, students asked to removed Hijab before entering hall
Karnataka SSLC Exams 2022: Students from various schools across Karnataka were seen heading to examination centres for the 10th grade exams which commenced on Monday.
Students from various schools across Karnataka were seen heading to examination centres for the 10th grade exams which commenced on Monday. With the Karnataka government steadfast in not allowing students wearing Hijab inside exams, several children were forced to remove Hijab inside the campus and only then allowed to proceed to classes.
"There are many people who have the mentality that girls will not listen to them if they get educated and independent. They dragged the Hijab till the court's. There are organisation's attempting to stop girls from getting educated. But around 99.9% of students have not supported such a call but 0.1% have gone with this and it is better to neglect them," BC Nagesh, Karnataka's Minister for primary and secondary education said on Monday.
Several students were seen being asked to remove the Hijab before entering examination halls.
In the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) girls high school in Cleveland Town, students were seen entering the campus where they would remove the Hijab and then proceed to give their 10th grade exams.
"We are giving our exams. Earlier they (school authorities) used to allow us with the Hijab and then stopped," Sana Fathoon, a 10th grader told HT. "I don't know what is the problem with wearing the Hijab," she added.
Students have been forced to choose between the right to education and the freedom to practice their religion.
"Our children start wearing the Hijab when they are very young and asking them not to wear it is not correct. But what do we do? We want our children to be educated," Illyas Ahmed, a parent, told HT.
Aound 8.76 lakh students are expected to take Class 10 state board exams after almost two years of online classes and disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the subsequent lockdowns as well as the controversy around the hijab.
There are around 40,000 halls in 3,440 exam centres around the state. The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) is conducting SSLC or Class 10 final exams from March 28. The papers will end on April 11.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government in Karnataka has taken a stand not to allow students inside with Hijab.
After the controversy broke in early January at a Government Girls Pre-University College in town, the issue snowballed and spread to educational institutes in Udupi and across the state. The face-off between hijab-wearing students and their own classmates, clad in saffron shawls and turbans, has now become the defining image of growing polarisation of Karnataka.
Six girls from the PU college first hit the headlines in early January as they protested against the institution’s move to stop their entry to campus while wearing the headscarves. Over the course of the month, four more colleges in Udupi and Kundapur districts issued the same ban.
On February 5, the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government issued an order stating that the uniform prescribed by educational institutions at the start of the year should be followed. This order, according to students, was misinterpreted by authorities to clamp down on the hijab.
The Muslim students protesting against the ban then moved the high court seeking that they be allowed to attend classes wearing the hijab. The court issued verdict on March 15 after 11 days of continuous hearings.
Almost immediately, the verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court. On Thursday however, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana turned down a plea seeking an urgent hearing of the challenge.
