After Karnataka, the Hijab controversy has once again spiralled in Kota city in Rajasthan and district Washim of Maharashtra.
On Sunday, several Muslim students who appeared for the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) 2022 examinations were not allowed to sit in the exam hall for wearing Hijab.
In Kota, Muslim women students were asked to remove their hijabs to appear for the examination which resulted in a scuffle-like situation between students and the police officers who were standing off to guard the centre.
However, aspirants were allowed to enter the premises and write their exam on the condition to sign a self-declaration document stating that if any mishap occurs during the examination, it would be the responsibility of the undersigned students. Only girls wearing hijab were made to sign that declaration.
In Maharashtra’s Washim, several students were forced to remove their hijabs to write their examinations at Matoshri Shantabai Gote College Mahavidyalaya. The Muslim students were picked out from the examination hall and their hijabs were removed forcefully.
Registering their anger and outrage, parents and guardians of the students gathered outside the college campus and ruckus-like conditions prevailed. The police force was also deployed outside the campus to keep the situation under control.
The prescribed official guidelines of the National Testing Agency, suggest that accessories, items or objects of faith are allowed on reaching the exam centre at the prescribed time.
NEET aspirants are only allowed to wear ‘casual’, ‘weather-appropriate’, ‘light-coloured’, ‘half-sleeved’ clothes during the examination.
However, students who prefer to wear cultural or custom-specific dresses or apparel are advised to report to the allotted test centre at least two hours before the reporting time to conduct proper checking.
Wearing shoes, gadgets, watches, heavy ornaments, jewellery, caps and sunglasses are strictly prohibited inside the examination centre.
Around 18.72 lakh students will appear for the 2022 NEET-UG examination.
Moreover, The Supreme Court will hear a batch of pleas against the Karnataka High Court’s order on the Hijab ban this week, as it gave a nod to it last Wednesday.
