Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (JD/SS)
Udupi, Apr 24: Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat said he regretted the tweets made by the Udupi girl Alia Asadi who had raised a ruckus in the examination hall when asked to remove her hijab. She along with her girls had moved the Karnataka High Court seeking permission to wear the hijab to the college.

The MLA questioned Asadi's tweet about being not allowed to wear hijab while writing her exam and where the country is headed to. He said on the contrary Asadi had created unnecessary tension by taking a stance in the 21st century against removing the hijab to enter the classroom.

Bhat said these girls had attended classes for the last one-and-a-half years without wearing a hijab and wondered where the country is headed to in respect of women throwing the question back to the student who tweeted.

The Udupi MLA said he had never gone to the extent of threatening the students nor did he make any threatening phone calls and had not threatened them in person as well.

"I have only answered questions raised by the media as this row was affecting thousands of innocent students who were serious about their studies and were writing the exams," he said.

Raghupathi Bhat said it was made clear that there was no way hijab would be allowed to be worn while writing the exam which was known to the girl but she had still behaved badly. He said the girl had removed her hijab and taken her hall ticket.

The Udupi MLA said he had made a statement based on the complaint raised by the parents of the girl. He said he had not threatened her and had conveyed this to the district administration.