Bengaluru: “What if you kill yourself with the sacred thread?”, is what officials asked an 18-year-old medical aspirant as they denied him entry into a Common Entrance Test (CET) centre in Karnataka’s Bidar, his mother has alleged.
The student was asked to remove the ‘Janivara’ (a sacred thread worn by Brahmins) or be denied entry into the Sai Spoorthi PU College exam centre.
“He tried convincing the officials it was a sacred thread and under no circumstances was he allowed to remove it. They asked him to cut it out and only then enter the centre,” Neeta Kulkarni, the mother, told ThePrint.
There were at least two other students in Shivamogga who allegedly faced similar issues with exam officials denying them entry for wearing the sacred thread. One student claimed his Janivara was cut and thrown into a dustbin.
These incidents have sparked fresh trouble for the Siddaramaiah government, at a time when dissatisfaction is already brewing among Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Brahmins and other communities over purportedly leaked findings from the state’s caste survey.
State higher education M. C. Sudhakar’s assurance that he has asked for a report and will take action against officials if found in the wrong has failed to mollify angry groups. The Akhila Karnataka Brahmin Mahasabha is planning district-wise protests.
The Opposition, meanwhile, has accused the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government of being “anti-Hindu” and insulting Brahmins. The state government allows students wearing the ‘hijab’ to take exams but not those with Janivara, it said.
“This is an insult to the Brahmin society by the Siddaramaiah government. This shows (Siddaramaiah’s) hatred towards the Hindu society,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator and Leader of the Opposition in the assembly R Ashok told reporters.
Hundreds of people from the Brahmin community and other groups that wear the Janivara protested in Bidar Saturday.
The exam—conducted by the CET cell for admission to various professional courses in Karnataka—took place Thursday morning in Bidar and other centres across the state and the issue came to light Friday evening.
The Bidar student’s mother, herself a Hindi lecturer of nearly 15 years, said she has never heard of any such instances in the past.
‘Cruel mindset’
Minister M. C. Sudhakar said action would be taken if the allegations against the officials are indeed true. He said such instances are “not acceptable to anyone”.
“If this incident is indeed true, it shows their cruel (officials’) mindset. It is cruel,” Sudhakar told reporters, adding that there is no rule barring students from Janivara.
Ramesh Kulkarni, a Brahmin Mahasabha leader told ThePrint from Bidar: “That student’s dream should not be destroyed because he is rooted to his traditions. We demand he be given another chance to write his exams or the government allows him admission in an engineering college.”
Minister Sudhakar said the case will be discussed within the education department to ensure the student is given another chance. “This is probably the first time a situation has arisen where we have to think of a re-exam just for one student. Let me first get the details, discuss with officials and then we can find a way around.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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