Bengaluru: A row erupted in Karnataka after five Brahmin students were allegedly forced to remove their sacred thread, ‘Janeu’ at a college in Bengaluru during the Common Entrance Test (CET), an exam conducted for admission to professional courses. The incident occurred at Krupanidhi College in Madivala.
Students claimed that invigilators at the examination hall instructed them to remove the sacred thread if they wished to appear for the test. One student recounted, I went to the center around 9.40 am. I kept the bag in the room and they didn’t allow me because they saw my ‘Janeu’. They started telling that you have to remove it. If you don’t remove, we can’t allow you to write the exam…Around seven students were also asked to remove their Janeu. We had no option so we removed it…I felt very sad. I could not write the CET exam properly…This happened yesterday…”
Left with no choice, the student complied with the instructions. Parents of the affected students arrived at the venue after the exam and questioned the staff, pointing out that there were clear standing instructions from the government not to ask candidates to remove the sacred thread. Some students also alleged that red and yellow sacred threads (Mauli or Kalava) tied around their wrists were removed.
In a similar incident last year during CET and other exams in places like Shivamogga and Bidar, prompting the state government to issue directives that students should not be asked to remove the sacred thread.
Despite those assurances, the issue has recurred.
Minister responds after row
Karnataka Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar called the incident as “very unfortunate,” noting that similar cases had occurred the previous year.
“We have taken this matter very seriously,” he said. Upon learning of the issue, he instructed officials to file a complaint against the institution.
The minister added that he was “truly saddened” by the event and is treating it with utmost seriousness. He mentioned receiving a letter from the college stating that three individuals have been suspended, and he has directed departmental officials to review the matter for strict legal action.
Sudhakar also asserted that clear guidelines and information about possible punishments should be communicated widely to all examination centres from next year onward.
In response to the incident, the college suspended the invigilator pending an inquiry. Police registered a case and questioned three staff members from the college who were in charge of the examination process.
opposition calls it ‘Anti-Hindu’
The matter quickly took a political turn. Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka of the BJP, strongly criticised the ruling Congress government, calling the actions “anti-Hindu.”
He alleged that such incidents, removing sacred threads and even mangalsutras in previous exams, continue unabated under the Congress administration.
Ashoka pointed out that nowhere in the CET hall ticket or official guidelines was it mentioned that students could not wear the sacred thread, questioning why such removals were being enforced.
He further claimed that the government provides no protection for Hindus while attacking their beliefs and practices. Ashoka described the Congress government as “Hindu Virodhi” and accused it of unofficially implementing “Sharia law” by altering school timings for Urdu-medium schools during Ramzan while allowing interference with Hindu religious symbols during exams.
Bureau Report
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