Protest outside CBSE office over NEET row

Agitators upset over alleged harassment of students during the exam last Sunday

PUDUCHERRY,07/05/ 2017 Private security guards with metal detectors check the candidates before allowing them inside the examination centre in Kendriya Vidyalaya No 1 JIPMER campus where NEET examination was conducted on Sunday.Photo;M_Samraj

Following outrage over alleged harassment of students during the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam last Sunday, an Islamic rights body on Thursday staged a protest outside the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) office here.

They were demanding a probe into various issues, besides revocation of the dress code.

The organisation said the CBSE’s actions had not only disrespected the faith of Muslim women, but also the dignity of female students in the name of checking cheating. “Students were forced to remove their head scarves to gain entry into exam halls,” Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) national secretary Syed Azharuddin said.

CBSE conducts the examination at over 1,900 centres across the country for admission to undergraduate medical and dentistry courses. The SIO claimed that the Board had also flouted a Kerala High Court verdict by indulging in such practices.

‘HC judgment violated’

The High Court had in its verdict last year said: “The Board shall permit all candidates who based on religious practice want to wear head scarf and full-sleeve dress.”

“It is a clear cut violation of the judgment,” Mr. Azharuddin said.