Karnataka: Despite ban, girls seek permission to wear hijab for II PU exams

College principals are receiving requests from Muslim girls seeking permission to wear hijab for the II PU exams starting March 9.

However, the Department of School Education & Literacy has issued instructions to PU college principals and officers not to entertain such requests.

According to information available with the department, Muslim girls have requested permission to wear the hijab at colleges in Udupi, Chikkaballapur, Chamarajanagar and Bengaluru Rural districts.

“There is no question of allowing hijab during exams as the matter is before the Supreme Court,” School Education & Literacy Minister B C Nagesh told DH.

“We don’t think any student will skip exams because of this reason.”

In March last year, the Karnataka High Court held that wearing of hijab did not form part of essential religious practice of Islamic faith.

The high court also held that the prescription of school uniform was “a reasonable restriction constitutionally permissible” that students cannot object to. The court had upheld the February 5, 2022, order of the government requiring students to wear the prescribed uniforms.

The high court order has been challenged in the Supreme Court.

Speaking to DH, the principal of a college in Dakshina Kannada said: “In the last one week, we have received two requests seeking permission to wear hijab for the exams. We clearly rejected them. We instructed all students to follow the norms.”

According to a government official, there is an order to maintain the status quo. “Students and colleges have to stick to the uniform policy,” the official said.

There is no data gathered by the department on how many students skipped
the exams last year for being denied permission to wear hijab.

“We have not collected caste- or religion-wise data on exam absentees. In any case, absenteeism is definitely not connected to the hijab controversy,” the official argued.

The ban on hijab inside classrooms snowballed into a major controversy, which impacted registrations for the II PU exams.

Some students skipped the exams as they were not allowed to wear hijab.