Kaup: Amid hijab row, students write exam wearing head covering

Udupi: Parents of the students of Government Composite Urdu High School at Fakeerakatte objected to the school authorities denying students wearing headscarves from writing examinations on Tuesday.

Mostly, students from the Muslim Community attend the school situated in Mallar Village in Kaup.

On Tuesday the girls came to school with their heads covered with the shawl prescribed as the uniform, and the school authorities denied them entry. The headmaster and other teachers of the school explained to the students and their parents about the Karnataka High Court’s interim order banning religious attire in the school premises.

This irked the parents and they began protesting and an argument broke out. The parents argued that the girls should be allowed to write examinations because they were wearing the uniform. The only difference was that the girls had used the shawl to cover their heads, they reasoned with the school authorities.

As the situation heated up DDPI and Tahsildar visited the school and held talks with the school authorities and the angry parents.

Kaup Tahsildar Srivasmurthi Kulkarni said that the girls were allowed to write the examinations. “The dispute has been sorted out. We have asked the school authorities to collect the opinions on the matter from parents of all the students,” he said.