Panaji, December 20: Two days after the National Eligibility Test (Test) – conducted by CBSE – a 24-year-old woman accused officials in Panaji of not allowing her to appear for the exam as she refused to take off her ‘hijab’ (headscarf).

Though the officials claim hijab and other accessories are not allowed to prevent cheating and security point of view, Safina Khan Soudagar alleged she was not allowed to enter the examination centre on December 18 by the supervisor after her denial to remove the Hijab. Beat This, BJP Leader Bukkal Nawab Calls Lord Hanuman a ‘Muslim’!

Expressing her anger, she stated to the media, as PTI quotes, “When I reached the inspecting official, he looked at my documents, he looked at me and asked me to remove my headscarf, saying I will not be allowed inside the examination hall with it.” Adding more, she said that she informed the officers that she couldn’t remover the scarf as, it is against her ‘religious belief’.

Briefing the details, she said, “He began arguing with me and consulted a senior woman official who was standing next to him.” Soudagar stated that though she agreed to it, she wasn’t allowed to appear in the exam.

She said, “I eventually agreed to show my ears and asked the officials to direct me to the washroom so that I could re-adjust my hijab. They refused to direct me towards the washroom. Removing hijab in public is against my Islamic belief because there were lot of men around.”

Soudagar stated that she had gone through the rules mentioned for the NET exam, but nowhere a dress code was written. She said, “It was a question whether I wanted to take the exam or not. So I chose to keep my faith above the (academic) loss. There was nothing regarding hijab or dress code.”

Reacting on the allegations, the senior official of the Directorate of Higher Education in Panaji said, “Not just hijab, even ‘mangalsutra’ (sacred necklace worn by married Hindu women) or any other accessory is not allowed in the examination centre to prevent cheating and also from the security point of view.” Adding more, he said, “There are stringent guidelines by the UGC to ensure that the examination is held in a very transparent manner and the officials were only following it.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 20, 2018 08:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).