The Karnataka Examinations Authority publishes a dress code for CET candidates on its website, outlining clothing and accessories permitted during the examination. It prohibits metal ornaments, rings, and bracelets, but does not explicitly mention janiwara or other religious threads.
Published Apr 19, 2025 | 12:30 AM ⚊ Updated Apr 19, 2025 | 12:30 AM
CCTV footage shows Janiwara was not cut by the security guards
Synopsis: Two incidents during the ongoing Common Entrance Test in Karnataka have sparked controversy after Brahmin students were allegedly asked to remove sacred threads at exam centres in Shivamogga and Bidar. One student took the exam after refusing to comply, while another walked out without appearing for it. The Karnataka government has ordered an inquiry following complaints from caste groups.
In what appears to echo the 2022 controversy over Muslim students wearing hijab and burqa during pre-university examinations, two incidents during the ongoing Common Entrance Test (CET) in Karnataka have sparked a fresh controversy over dress code and religious freedom.
In the first incident, on 16 April in Shivamogga, two students at Aadichunchanagiri Independent Pre-University (PU) College were allegedly asked to remove their janiwara and kashi dhara – religious threads traditionally worn by Brahmin men – during frisking before being allowed into the examination hall.
The Akhila Bharat Brahmana Mahasabha alleged that three students were involved. According to the group, one student refused to comply but was still allowed to sit the examination. The other two were reportedly required to remove the threads before proceeding inside.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) publishes a dress code for CET candidates on its website, outlining clothing and accessories permitted during the examination. It prohibits metal ornaments, rings, and bracelets, but does not explicitly mention janiwara or other religious threads.
Attempts to reach KEA officials for comment were unsuccessful.
Following the incident, the students informed their parents, leading to a confrontation between members of the community and college staff. In a video of the confrontation that has since gone viral on social media, members of the Brahmin community can be heard demanding whether the staff would dare to do the same to other communities.
Police were present and ensured the situation remained under control.
Similarly, Suchivrat Kulkarni, another CET aspirant from Bidar, was also reportedly asked to remove his janiwara at the CET examination centre at Saispoorthi PU College near Goompa. He refused and returned home without writing the examination.
His mother, Neetha Kulkarni, explained the religious significance of the thread, saying, “We organise a Upanayana for the boys before we make them wear this sacred thread. It must be removed only during somebody’s death in the family. It cannot be removed anytime we want to.”
She said the college staff had not raised any objection on the first day of examinations.
“On the first day of the examination on Wednesday, they had not asked him to remove the sacred thread,” she said. “On the second day, they forced him to remove it. Despite many requests my son made to the authorities, they did not allow him to enter the examination hall.”
She added that her son had spent two years preparing for the CET with the goal of pursuing Computer Science engineering.
“We spent over two lakhs for CET coaching. Now, our dreams are shattered,” she added.
In response to the Shivamogga incident, members of the Akhila Bharat Brahmana Mahasabha submitted a petition to the District Commissioner, Gurudatt Hegde, calling for an inquiry.
Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Madhu Bangarappa, said he had directed officials to investigate.
“I have asked the department officials to investigate this issue. A strict action will be taken against those who were involved in this,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.
In Bidar, Shashidhar Kosambe, a member of the Karnataka Child Rights Panel, visited Suchivrat’s family and assured them of support.
District in-charge Minister Eshwar B Khandre also issued a letter directing officials to submit a detailed report within 24 hours.
“Strict action shall be taken against those officials involved in this. An enquiry must happen and the report must be submitted,” the letter said.
Higher Education Minister, MC Sudhakar, condemned the incident and has sought a detailed report from the district commissioners of Shivamogga and Bidar. “There is no such protocol of removing janivara in the exam. We have taken this issue seriously. Once we receive the report, we will act as per the law against officials,” he said.
In the case of the boy from Bidar having missed the Mathematics exam, Sudhakar said, “I will discuss with the officials and see what alternative can be done to secure the boy’s future. This is a unique case. We have never held an exam for a person or group of people for any such reasons.”
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC N Ravikumar said students affected by the dress code enforcement should be allowed to retake the examination.
“Bidar student should be given a re-examination. I do not know whether this government has humanity or not. What kind of culture is this that says, to remove janiwara?,” he said.
Do they have the courage to tell other community to take off their burqa and come? Students who missed the examination should be given the opportunity to write the examination again.”
Similarly, BJP MP PC Mohan invoked poet Kuvempu and seventeenth century Muslim ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, to suggest the incidents were inconsistent with Karnataka’s cultural values.
“In Bidar, a student wearing a janivara was not allowed to appear for the CET examination and in Shivamogga, a student’s janivara was forcibly removed and thrown into a dustbin. This is not the Karnataka Kuvempu dreamt of; this is the Karnataka Tipu Sultan dreamt of,” he wrote in a post on X.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
