Karnataka: PU Exam Amid Tight Security; 2 Hijab Clad Girls Return After Being Denied Entry
Representational image.
Bengaluru: The second-year pre-university examinations started in Karnataka on Friday amid tight security and in the shadow of the hijab row.
Over 6.84 lakh students will write the exam at 1,076 centres across the state. The exams will go on till May 18.
As there is a ban on hijab or any cloth linked to religious identity, the authorities made arrangements at exam centres for Muslim girls to remove their head scarves before entering the exam halls.
Muslim girls who turned up at the examination centre wearing hijab said they will remove it inside the separate enclosure and will wear it again after the exam is over.
"Hijab is important and so is writing and passing the exam. Our future depends on our exam results," a Muslim girl student told reporters in Bengaluru.
The Karnataka High Court had last month upheld the order of the state government banning wearing clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public order in schools and colleges, which a section of Muslim girls had challenged in the court.
Two Muslim students Resham and Alia, whose petition challenging the government order banning hijab was dismissed by the High Court, returned home from the exam centre in Udupi after they were denied entry for insisting to write the exam.
The authorities cited last month's High Court verdict upholding the government order, which banned any cloth that could disturb peace, harmony and public order.
Abhishek Hiremath whose alleged social media post led to the violence in the old town of Hubballi on April 16 night, appeared for second Pre-University exam on Friday with police protection.
Police took Hiremath from the Hubballi sub-jail to the examination venue in a police vehicle.
The accused had allegedly posted a video showing a saffron flag on a mosque, which is said to be the root cause behind the violence.
Elaborate security arrangements were made at the exam centres to prevent any congregation of people for creating ruckus.
Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh visited a few schools in Bengaluru to oversee the arrangements for the conduct of the exams.
He said Bengaluru is the biggest centre where over 5.73 lakh students are writing the PU second-year exam whereas in Kodagu about 6,000 students are appearing for the exam.
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