For months, 18-year-old Afiya from the province of Karnataka in southern India studied day and night to sit for grade 12 exams and then a competition to apply to a medical college.

But she couldn’t take the exam because the school didn’t allow her to enter the exam room with a headscarf or headscarf.

After the Karnataka High Court on March 15 upheld a ban imposed by educational institutions on wearing headscarves inside buildings, many Muslim students chose not to take exams or look for other ways to further their education.

The court ruled that “the wearing of headscarves by Muslim women is not part of the essential religious practice of the Islamic faith”.

“I feel bad about my studies. I’m not allowed to take the exam, with a headscarf… I won’t even be able to take the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entry Test) to get into medical school,” Afiya said.

She is now seeking admission to another school, where she is allowed to wear the hijab.

“I don’t know what to do for my future. I feel like my dreams are being shattered every day,” Afiya said, adding that he quit school in February this year.

Like Afiya, the dreams of many Muslim girls have been shattered, left to choose between their identity, their freedom, their dress and their education.

The trouble started in January when female Muslim students were barred from entering their classrooms at a public college in Karnataka’s Udupi district for wearing the hijab. Furthermore, other institutions also follow the dictation.

The students are now pinning their hopes on the Supreme Court, which will hear the case.

“We’ve been wearing hijab since we were kids and not recently. They should have allowed us to take the hijab test. Previously they had no problems, but they were banned after a court order,” Hiba Sheikh said. , another student who is also not wearing a hijab. college since March.

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