19 pro-hijab girls denied tickets over attendance

MANGALURU:  As many as 19 Muslim girl students of a college near Mangaluru have been barred from writing examinations due to shortage in their attendance. The students of Government First Grade College in Haleyangadi on the outskirts of Mangaluru have not been attending classes for more than a month after the college implemented the hijab ban following the Karnataka High Court’s order.

“Our students in the first, second and third semesters have not been able to write their exams due to attendance shortage. The hijab rule was implemented in the middle of the year,” protested a student.
Sridhar, principal of the college said due to low attendance, students cannot write the exams.

“We have been trying to convince these students as well as their parents about the HC order but they are adamant on wearing hijab. We have even arranged separate rooms for these students to remove their hijab. We urged them to attend classes from June 1 and assured that despite attendance shortage, they will be allowed to write exams but they did not listen to us. If they want to continue attending classes and write the next exam, they have to take special permission from Mangalore University,” he said. Meanwhile, some of the affected students have decided to quit studies. Some of them have started attending tailoring classes.