Karnataka Hijab row intensifies as students skip Class 10 preparatory exams in Shivamogga

Bengaluru, Feb 15: Amid a row on wearing hijab in classrooms, several students skipped Class 10 preparatory exams at Karnataka Public School in Shivamogga city.

Hina Kausar, a student of the school, says, "I was asked to remove hijab before entering the school. I can't do it, so I chose not to appear in the exam."

On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom by wearing hijab.

This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear hijabs in classes which was not allowed. Till then, students used to wear the hijab to the campus and entered the classroom after removing the scarves, the college principal Rudre Gowda had said.

"The institution did not have any rule on hijab-wearing as such and since no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces," Rudre Gowda had said.