The staff of the KV Ranga Reddy Degree College for Women in Hyderabad allegedly forbade female students who arrived at an examination centre on Friday donning burqas from taking the exam. According to the Muslim pupils, they had to wait for a half-hour and take off their burqas before being permitted to sit for the test. They wear asked to wear it outside the premises after the exams.
A student informed, “They forced us to take off our burqa and told us to wear it outdoors after the exam. This is KV Ranga Reddy College in Santosh Nagar. They told us the same thing on the day of our first exam. Today is our second one and we are yet again directed to remove the burqa. Burqa is approved at other colleges, but not here, so we have to take it off.”
Another student mentioned, “The college authorities have instructed us to not wear a burqa from tomorrow, but, this is against the examination rules. Our parents have complained regarding the issue to Home Minister Mahmood Ali. He said that not allowing female students with burqas into the centre is not right.”
After the incident, Telangana Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali stirred up controversy by suggesting that females should try to keep as much of their bodies covered as they can. When asked about the incident at KV Ranga Reddy College, he responded that issues emerge when ladies wear short dresses.
“Our policy is an absolutely secular policy. Everyone has the right to wear whatever they want. But, one should practice wearing dress according to Hindu or Islamic practices and not follow European culture. We should wear good clothes and respect our dressing customs,” he stated.
The politician added, “Especially, women shouldn’t wear short dresses. They should cover their heads as well as bodies as much as possible. For women, wearing fewer clothes is not convenient. They are at peace when they wear more clothes.” He also assured that the government will take cognizance of the matter and action will be taken accordingly.
On Friday, a few Ranga Reddy Women’s Degree College students who were scheduled to take the Urdu Medium Degree Examination went to the exam centre in burqas. However, they were instructed by the staff there to pull off their burqas before writing the exam.
The students reportedly protested against the college administration for making them remove their burqas in order to take the intermediate supplementary exam. Many parents also complained that their children were singled out because of the burqa and that the college management was unsympathetic to their concerns.
The controversial issue of Muslim girls wearing a hijab in Karnataka’s educational institutions emerged as a raging national debate last year. Hijab was prohibited inside classes at a government pre-university college in Karnataka last year. Following this, the state’s former Bharatiya Janta Party administration, led by chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, issued a directive outlawing the hijab in schools and universities. It was prohibited within government colleges where uniforms were already in place, per the directive.
However, in October of last year, the Supreme Court issued a split decision on whether Muslim students need to remove their hijabs at the school gates. The Chief Justice of India then proposed to appoint a larger bench to decide the case. Justice Hemant Gupta decided that the hijab is not a necessary religious practice and uphold the ban whereas Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia overturned the restriction on the hijab and cited the importance of girl education.
Now, the incumbent Congress government in the southern state is all set to reverse the ban soon.