Hijab row: Govt denies another chance to students who skipped exams

Following the interim order of the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday that banned hijab and saffron shawl in colleges where uniform is prescribed, several Muslim girl students boycotted classes and exams across Karnataka.

Many students had skipped the practical exams, hoping the verdict would be in their favour.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy said they cannot go against the court verdict. “The Karnataka High Court order has to be followed. We cannot go against it. We can accommodate students who had not attended examinations before the court verdict, but we cannot do it for those who have not attended after the ruling,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nagesh claimed that about 400 Muslim women students had skipped schools and colleges on Monday.

The Campus Front of India (CFI) who held a press meet on Monday said they would continue to fight in the Supreme Court. Sarfaraz Gangavathi of the CFI said the students were being forced not to take exams. “The ruling BJP government doesn’t want to educate students, especially Muslim women students. Before the verdict, we did visit several colleges in 25 districts of the state and found that 11,000 Muslim women students were affected because of the rule. We are collecting the data. But what Nagesh claims is under reported and it is much beyond that,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Monday, students in many parts of the state skipped college over hijab as students wearing hijab were barred from entering the campus. In Uppinangady government PU College in Dakshina Kannada district, students protested after being denied entry into the college.

In SKNG first grade college of Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, students alleged they were abused for wearing hijab. A third semester BSc student, who wrote a Hindi examination on Monday, said the faculty was insisting them to remove hijab. “We have been appearing for examinations with burqa and it was never questioned. But after this row, we are being insisted to remove it. Though we say the order is restricted to PU colleges, the principal is not ready to buy our argument. We are being harassed at the examination centre,” she told The Indian Express.