Day after HC verdict, girls refuse to attend classes without hijab

Bengaluru/Udupi/Bhatkal: A day after the Karnataka High Court upheld the ban on hijab in schools and colleges, a few students in Kaup in Udupi arrived at the government first-grade college, clad in burkha and hijab, and demanded entry into the exam hall. They left in a huff after the principal refused to allow them with their headscarf.

Principal Dr Anil Kumar requested the girls to remove hijab and write their exams. But they did not budge from their position and left without taking their exam.

One of the girls protested that the High Court had no right to stop them from writing their exams.

The principal's plea that they honour the verdict of the HC and remove their hijab in another room before entering the exam hall failed to convince the students. Only four of the 17 girls wrote the exam after removing their hijab. Rizana and Shahnaz, two of the students, argued that the hijab had never been an issue in any of their previous educational institutions. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the new rule. Another girl student in the same group said she would not mind removing both burkha and hijab in the classroom but she expressed apprehension that her own classmates might tell her parents about her violation of religious tradition and some men in her neighbourhood could create problems for her family. When contacted, her parents also confirmed that they wanted to see their daughter be someone in the society but the present conditions were not conducive for that.

In Kamala Nehru College in Shivamogga, which had seen disturbances over the Hijab row earlier, 15 girls returned home saying that they will not enter college without wearing hijab.

The girls arrived with burqa and hijab but the college management barred entry, and they decided not to attend classes.

One of them told reporters that hijab was their religious right and identity and they cannot enter the college without it.

"Today was the last day to submit our assignments but we are not allowed inside the class. We requested them (college authorities) to allow us but the college said the court order has to be honoured. It is not the fault of principal or the teachers. Actually we did not get justice," another girl said.