GOA: A Muslim woman, who refused to take off her 'hijab' (head scarf), was not allowed to appear in the National Eligibility Test (NET) in India.
As per report, Safina Khan Soudagar alleged the officials conducting the National Eligibility Test (NET) in Goa of not allowing her to appear for the examination after she refused to take off her ‘hijab’ (head scarf).
A 24-year-old lady went the examination centre in Panaji on December 18, where the supervisor asked her to remove hijab. After her refusal, the officials disallowed her to appear in the examination.
“The inspecting official looked at my documents, he looked at me and asked me to remove my head scarf, saying I will not be allowed inside the examination hall with it,” she said.
She told the official that she cannot remove the scarf. He began arguing with her and consulted a senior woman official who was standing next to him. The official then informed her that she will not be allowed to enter the examination hall with her head scarf.
“It was a question whether I wanted to take the exam or not. So I chose to keep my faith above the (academic) loss,” she added.
The officials, who barred the woman from entering the centre, were reported to have said that Hijab and some other accessories were banned from the security point of view.
NET is conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to determine eligibility for college and university level lecturership and for the award of junior research fellowship. Soudagar said she reached the exam centre at 1 pm on Tuesday and stood in the queue when the process of checking the identity cards (IDs) of candidates began.
Soudagar said while applying for the exam earlier, she had gone through the rules on the website concerned and it nowhere mentioned the dress codes. "There was nothing regarding hijab or dress code," she said.