Bengaluru: A Muslim exam invigilator, Noor Fahima, has been suspended for wearing hijab during the SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) exams in the Indian state of Karnataka. She was the invigilator at the KTSV School in Bengaluru.
Students have been banned from wearing hijab in schools after a verdict of the Karnataka High Court, however, till now there were no clear instructions for teachers. This happened on a day when Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh said that the wearing of the hijab would not be allowed during the Class 10 examination of the state board.
“After the High Court order, we’ve not allowed that (hijab). We’ve given clarification that they (students with hijab) can come into the campus wearing the hijab but they cannot put it on in the classroom. The same condition will apply during the exams,” Nagesh told reporters.
Section 144 is being imposed in front of schools where the exams are taking place. More than 8.76 lakh students are appearing for the exam in over 40,000 halls in 3,440 centers across the state and thousands of Muslim students were denied their right to wear hijab.
The exams started on Monday and will end on April 11.
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused an early hearing on pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict on the Karnataka government’s ban on hijabs inside educational institutions. The Muslim girls had sought early listing of the issue citing upcoming school examinations. The top court also declined to give any specific date to hear the petitions.
The Karnataka High Court three weeks before upheld the state government order effectively banning the wearing of hijab by Muslim girl students in educational institutions in the state. The Court had also dismissed the petitions filed by Muslim girl students, challenging the action of government pre-university colleges in denying their entry for wearing hijab.
Muslim students in Karnataka have been protesting the ban on hijab in educational institutions, saying the Islamophobic move of the Karnataka government violates their religious freedom guaranteed under India’s constitution. Muslim students, activists, and Opposition leaders across the country alleged that these attacks on Muslim symbols and practices are part of the larger Hindutva agenda of imposing majoritarian values on the country’s 200 million Muslims.
