In a recent incident from Gujarat, girls were reportedly asked to remove their hijab prior to entering their board exams school in Ankleshwar town, Bharuch district of Gujarat. As per a report by the Indian Express, the exam supervisor, who is also the principal of the school, at the private, was suspended after allegedly instructing invigilators to remove the hijab worn by two Muslim students before a mathematics exam on March 13. The following day saw parents of students affected reportedly protesting outside the school. As per a report in the Indian Express report, they have also submitted a memorandum to the District Education Officer (DEO).
Following a review of CCTV footage and a meeting with concerned parents, District Education Officer Swati Raol took the action to suspend Ilaben Suratiya Suratiya from her role as the exam centre administrator. Raol has stated, “I have seen the CCTV footage and the parents also gave their application to me in this regard. I have ordered an inquiry into the incident and also started the process to change the exam centre administrator because I found merit in the complaint.”
Parents have stated that their daughters were very distressed after they were pressured by school staff to remove their hijabs prior to the exam. One parent reported that his daughter cried for hours after the incident, according to ABP Live.
The Indian Express reported that one of the parents of a student attending a Gujarati medium school has filed a formal complaint with the Ankleshwar police station. The parent also told the newspaper how the incident impaired his daughter’s ability to take the exam well, “The school lowered the morale of the students even before the exam began. It was not just one child but around 15 girls were treated similarly… They belonged to different schools. They disturbed the students and also harassed them. Some cried at the spot and were not able to write their exams well.”
As per a video clip posted by Hate Detectors on X, a parent of a student has claimed his daughter, and other students affected, could not write the exam properly. His daughter even told him she was being stared at during the exam as if she was a ‘thief.’
In #Gujarat‘s #Bharuch, around 20 Hijab-wearing students were forced to remove their #Hijab for appearing in the exam of class 10th at #Ankleshwar.
“My daughter came home crying,” said a father while talking to the media. pic.twitter.com/BtPCqBl6NX
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) March 15, 2024
Deputy Director of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, M K Raval has stated that there is no uniform for the board exams and students can wear the clothes they prefer, “Since there is no uniform applicable in Board exams, there are no specific instructions about what the students should wear while appearing for the exam. It is not a standing instruction that the face of the students has to be visible in the cameras. As far as verification is concerned, any female staff of the examination centre can verify the identity of the student with the receipt and be allowed to write the exam in whatever outfit she desires.”
A similar incident took place recently at a private college in Karnataka’s Hassan district, where Muslim women students were instructed to take their hijab off after a group of students recently organised a gathering in opposition to the wearing of hijab on campus. Reports indicate that the protestors wore saffron shawls as they protested against the girl’s decision to wear the headscarf. Following this incident, college authorities had called for a meeting with the Muslim students the girls had agreed to refrain from wearing the hijab in the future. Similarly, in January 2024, a school located in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur saw Muslim girl students wearing the hijab reportedly labelled as ‘chambal ke daaku’ and denied entry in their school by the teachers. As per reports, the BJP-led Rajasthan government has also been mulling a ban on hijab in educational institutes.
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