A group of Muslim students at a college in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Sunday held protests after they were asked to take off their hijabs, ANI reported.
The students were appearing for the Sent Up tests at the city’s Mahant Darshan Das Mahila College. Students in the state need to clear Sent Up examination in order to appear for board examinations for Class 10 and Class 12.
One of the students alleged that a male teacher made derogatory remarks about her when she refused to take off her hijab, according to PTI.
“We were in the classroom and were writing the exam when the teacher asked to take off the hijab saying that we might be wearing a Bluetooth device,” a student said. “On not taking off hijab, the teacher asked us to leave.”
However, college principal Kanu Priya said that several students were carrying mobile phones to the examination centre, which was against the rules. “The girl in question was among those who were asked to leave their handsets outside the exam hall,” she said.
The principal said that the student had only been asked to reveal her ears so that the invigilator could check for Bluetooth devices.
“If the girl had a problem with that, she could have informed the examination controller or me,” she said. “But she had other intentions. She rang up the local police station and also some local anti-social elements she seemed to be knowing. When they arrived, she created a ruckus.”
One of the students alleged that a teacher called her an “anti-national” person and remarked that she should go to Pakistan. The principal said that she was not at the examination centre at the time, but other students there said that the claim was not true.
Kanu Priya also claimed that the student’s attendance record had been very poor. “The education department has issued instructions that no student with less than 75% attendance be allowed to sit for the final exams,” she said, according to PTI. “The girl might have acted under the impression that this will browbeat the college administration and force it to be lenient in her case.”
The incident took place months after students in Karnataka held protests demanding that they should be allowed to wear hijabs in educational institutes. On October 13, a division bench of the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on whether a ban on the garment in educational institutes was legally valid.
The case is to be placed before the chief justice of India for his directions on the future course of action.
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