UDUPI: Almas A H, one of the six students from Women's Government PU College, Udupi, who had challenged the ban on hijab inside classrooms before the High Court of Karnataka, said that she feels betrayed by the verdict of the High Court, which observed that wearing hijab is not an essential religious practice.
''The Karnataka government pressurised the High Court to get this verdict in its favour,'' she alleged.
Almas further said that as all of the six petitioners feel it is important to wear hijab inside the classrooms, they have decided not to come to college from Wednesday. ''Though we have not decided yet about reaching out to the Supreme Court, we will consult our lawyers for legal advice,'' she said, adding that earlier they had hoped that they will get justice from the court.
Another student Aliya Assadi argued that by this verdict, the court has denied constitutional rights to them. "Now that we have our parents' support for our cause, we will focus on our studies as well," she said. However, she did not mention how they will continue their education without attending classes from Wednesday.
Aliya also said they feel bad that a matter that should have been solved within the college campus was blown out of proportion to earn 'political mileage'. Aliya also said that they had made a lot of sacrifices to brave these troubles since the row began.
Five student-petitioners of the Government PU College except Shifa were present at the press meet.