NEW DELHI
\nHiba Sheikh, pursuing graduation in India\u2019s southern province of Karnataka could not appear in the practical sessions of her annual exams last month, as the college authorities refused to allow students to wear hijab or headscarf.
\n\u201cMy internal exams were on March 3 \u2026 The college authorities are saying to remove the hijab and then come to college. But I am not okay with it,\u201d she told Anadolu Agency.
\nShe said that taking cover of the Karnataka High court order pronounced on March 15 that upheld the ban on wearing hijab in classrooms, college authorities have been preventing Muslim girls to enter the premises with headscarves.
\nThe move is affecting the education of Muslim girls across the state, which is known as India\u2019s science capital, because of hosting numerous institutions related to information technology, electronics, and space.
\nIndia\u2019s national news agency Press Trust of India has reported that 40 Muslim girl students from the Udupi district of Karnataka alone have stayed away from appearing for the pre-university exams.
\n\u201cI am worried about my education. Exams are going on and I don\u2019t know what to do. It is worrying every student because it is happening at the end of the academic year. Not sitting in exams means loss of one year,\u201d said Sheikh.
\nThe court had ruled that \u201cwearing of hijab by Muslim women doesn\u2019t form a part of essential religious practice in the Islamic faith.\u201d The verdict had come following petitions filed by Muslim women who were being disallowed to attend classes because of their hijab.
\nThe issue surfaced when hijab-clad Muslim students were barred from entering their classrooms at a government college in Udupi district in Karnataka in January. Subsequently, the issue spread to other institutions in Karnataka.
\nSheikh is not alone. Several hijab-wearing students wearing told Anadolu Agency that college authorities were not allowing them to sit in exams.
\nMuskan stays away from exam
\nSpeaking to Anadolu Agency, Ramzaan Khan, father of Muskaan Khan who has become a symbol of resistance to protect the right to wear hijab, said that her daughter did not appear in the annual exams.
\n\u201cI met the college administration couple of times and requested to allow her to sit in the exam wearing a hijab. Our request was not entertained and there was no other option for my daughter but to skip the exam,\u201d said Khan
\nIn February, a video widely circulated on social media showed Muskan a college girl in a headscarf being harassed by a mob of men with saffron shawls — a color seen as a Hindu symbol, but also associated with the ruling rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
\n\u201cShe (Muskan) is feeling bad about it because the college didn\u2019t agree to our request about writing the exam in a hijab,\u201d said Khan, lamenting that his daughter lost a year of her education.
\nActivists say the hijab ban by the court had adversely affected the educational pursuits of Muslim girls in the region.
\n\u201cIt has impacted very badly. A large number of students have not appeared in the exam and the sad part is that till April, many more exams are scheduled and there is no sign of relief so far,\u201d said Asma Zehra, chief organizer of the Women\u2019s Wing of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, apex umbrella body of Islamic scholars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Hiba Sheikh, pursuing graduation in India\u2019s southern province of Karnataka could not appear in the practical sessions of her annual exams last month, as the college authorities refused to allow students to wear hijab or headscarf. \u201cMy internal exams were on March 3 \u2026 The college authorities are saying to remove the hijab […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-253053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n