Muslim woman in Goa denied of appearing in NET exam for wearing Hijab

Guwahati: In a rather shocking revelation made by a Muslim woman from Goa, It has come to notice that just because she was wearing hijab and denied putting it off while writing her National Eligibility Test (NET) paper, she was not allowed to appear in the examination.

Humiliated and dejected, the Muslim woman, named Safina Khan Saudagar (24) took to write a complaint to the Secretary for Education only after which the incident came into light. Safina, who is a writer and a post-graduate degree holder in Psychology, has narrated the sequence of events which took place with her and why she was denied entry to write the NET earlier this week.

Notably, it was on December 18 when the National Eligibility Test (NET) was being conducted across the country. Safina, had her center for the examination in Panaji and had reached the centre wearing her hijab, following her religious beliefs. Safina, who attended a press conference in Panaji on Thursday have expressed it that she would also write to Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar and will approach Goa State Human Rights Commission over the issue. Her purpose behind this step is “so that such injustice does not affect other persons, irrespective of communities, in future”.

As stated by the complainant, when she reached the gates of the exam venue at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, she was not allowed to enter the hall during a security check. She was asked to remove her ''hijab'' for sitting in the examination. When she informed the man that she cannot do it as her religious belief and modesty do not allow her to do so, he insisted that she remove it. Then a lady, his senior officer came and asked Safina to comply or else she will not be allowed to appear her exam.

Safina stated, “She informed me that my ears need to be visible for a photograph and I agreed to it. I asked them to show me to a washroom to be able to redo my 'hijab' to accommodate their request, but they refused and instead asked me to do it in the open with no privacy.”

It was also being told to Safina that she would have to sit through the entire exam without her headscarf. Mentioning legal points to her complaint, Safina said, “Article 14 of the Constitution provides that I be treated equally. Article 21 provides that I cannot be deprived of my personal liberty. Articles 25-28 provide that I have freedom to practice my religion. Therefore, such behaviour is unacceptable in a secular State and is a matter of harassment.”

Moreover, there is no such rule specified on the NET website and hence, she finds no reason for anyone to ask her to remove her hijab.

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