MANGALURU: A total of 231 Muslim students at Government PU College in Uppinangady, Karnataka, refused to sit for preparatory exams on Friday when the women among them were told they could not appear for the test wearing the hijab.
The college cited the recent Karnataka high court order that dismissed the petition of six Muslim women students who wanted to wear the hijab in classrooms. The deputy director of PU education has said that whoever violates the high court order would not be allowed to appear for the exam.
The Kannada exam was held on Friday. At the college in Uppinangady, 50km from Mangaluru, when some Muslim women arrived wearing the hijab, the college did not permit them to sit for the test. This led to tension on the campus as nearly 250 students, including men, started a protest, demanding permission for the women to write the exam wearing the hijab. Muslim leaders from the village tried to talk to the students, but many Muslim students left without appearing for the exam.
College principal Sudhir Kumar said, “As many as 231 second-year PU students, including boys, left without writing the Kannada exam.”