Rajasthan, June 26,(KAT): A 25-year-old student from Jammu and Kashmir was allegedly denied permission to sit for the Rajasthan Judicial Services Examination 2024 due to her wearing a hijab. The incident occurred at Pooja Public School in Jaipur’s Jhotwara.
Sadia Ishaq, a resident of Bathindi in Jammu, reported that she was stopped along with another hijabi girl from Uttar Pradesh during the screening process, while other candidates were allowed to proceed without issue. “I was told to remove my hijab to be allowed to sit for the exam,” Ishaq told Maktoob. “Has our hijab no value? Would they have told this to a Sikh wearing a turban and not allowed them either? No.”
The other girl, who had traveled from Uttar Pradesh with her father, reluctantly complied with the instructions to avoid causing trouble for her father. “She gave in because she didn’t want to trouble her father. I felt bad,” Ishaq added. “But what about those days and nights that I dedicated to this exam? I burned the midnight oil for this.”
Ishaq recounted their attempts to convince the examination staff, including the junior nodal officer, but to no avail. “They were telling me that I still had time to take off my hijab and go to the exam hall,” she said. “I asked them if they would remove their clothes for the exam. They said ‘no’. I asked them why should I do it then.”
According to Ishaq, the examination guidelines shared via a common student Telegram group did not explicitly mention the hijab. The guidelines specified that candidates should not wear items such as scarves, shawls, or hats, but the hijab was not explicitly listed.
The relevant section of the RJS high court guidelines read: “Candidate shall not wear shoes, sandals, socks, goggles, belt, hair pin, ganda/tabeez, scarf, hat/cap, stall, shawl, coat, tie, jacket, blazer, muffler etc. They shall not carry any purse/hand bag with them.”
“I didn’t think it would apply to the hijab,” Ishaq said. “I still wrote an application for permission but they didn’t even look at it, let alone consider it.”
Ishaq, who was attempting the exam for the first time, expressed her disappointment with the examination staff’s approach. “What if it was my last attempt? They would have done it even then,” she said. “Would they do the same with all hijabis? How is it fair?”
Her teacher, Najeeb Khan, voiced his outrage on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), stating, “Today, during the Rajasthan Judicial Services Examination 2024 conducted in Jaipur, my student from Jammu and Kashmir was denied permission to sit for the exam due to her wearing a hijab.”
Khan added that the concerned officer explicitly stated that she removed her hijab to take the exam. “Despite this, my student chose to leave the examination rather than remove her hijab,” he wrote.
Khan expressed his disappointment with the Rajasthan authorities’ handling of the situation, calling it an injustice to a student from a region where the hijab is a common practice. “you can not force a lady to remove her hijab… Even though she was ready for all kind of securtiy screening,” he added.
Khan hasn’t received any response so far.
This incident is not isolated; the hijab has been a contentious issue in India for several years. In 2022, a government pre-university college in Udupi, Karnataka, banned the hijab inside classrooms, sparking national debates and protests. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka subsequently issued an order banning the hijab on campuses, citing concerns about “equality, integrity, and public law and order.”
The controversy spread across educational institutions in Karnataka, with protests and counter-protests highlighting the tension over religious attire. Many Muslim students have faced similar issues, challenging the balance between religious freedom and institutional regulations.
Ishaq emphasized that the exam is important, but not at the expense of her religious beliefs. “The exam is important but why would I have to give it at the cost of my religious beliefs,” she said. “I don’t think this should be repeated with any other student again.”
Religious freedom is protected under India’s Constitution, but there has been an increase in religious-based hate crimes, particularly against Muslims. Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party argue that the party is increasingly marginalizing Muslims.