PANJIM: A 24-year-old girl on Thursday alleged that she was not allowed to answer the National Eligibility Test (NET), conducted by officials of University Grants Commission (UGC) for wearing the ‘hijab.’
Safina Khan Soudagar had arrived to appear for NET on December 18 at Panjim when she was allegedly asked to take off the Hijab. When she refused to do it, the supervisor did not let her answer the exam.
Addressing a press conference, Safina narrated the incident. “I was scheduled to appear for NET exam on December 18 for the second shift batch. I reached the venue at 1 o’clock and process of checking the IDs began at 1.30 p.m. When I reached the official was checking the ID. He looked at my paper, he looked at me and said please remove your head scarf, as with it you will not be allowed inside,” Safina said.
The girl told media persons that she told the male official that she can’t do it as it is against her religious belief. Safina said that the male supervisor wanted to see her ears to confirm her identity on the photograph.
“I eventually agreed to show my ears and asked me to direct me to washroom so that I can retie my ‘Hijab’. They refused to show me washroom. Removing Hijab in public was against my Islamic belief because there were lot of men around,” she said.
“They further informed me that I will not be able to answer my exam with Hijab and I will have to sit without it for rest of the exam,” Safina added.
“It was a question about whether I want to answer the exam or I don’t. So I chose to keep my faith above the loss,” she commented.
Safina said that while applying for exam, she had gone through the rules on the website and nowhere it was written that there are dress codes.
When contacted, a senior official from Directorate of Higher Education which is providing assistance to UGC to conduct the examination, said that “not only Hijab but even Mangasutra or any other accessories are not allowed in the examination centre to avoid cheating and also from the security point of view.”
“There are stringent guidelines by UGC to ensure that the examination is held in a very transparent manner and the officials were only following it,” he said.
