Scared thread row: Minister offers no cost seat to student denied entry

Environment minister Eshwar B Khandre on Sunday assured free admission to the student, who was reportedly told to remove his sacred thread before entering the exam hall, in Bhimanna Khandre Technical College in Bhalki as he was not able to write his KCET Mathematics examination.

Suchivrat Kulkarni was among the three students who were allegedly asked to remove their “janivaras” by the security staff at the Adichunchanagiri PU college exam centre on Wednesday. Kulkarni refused to remove the sacred thread and went back home without writing the exam, while the two others removed the “janivara” before entering the exam hall.

Two home guards deployed at the exam centre, who asked the students to remove the sacred thread, have been suspended in this connection, officials said. The case was registered following a complaint by Natraj Bhagavath, from the Karnataka Brahmin Sabha, on Friday.

Eshwar Khandre, who visited Kulkarni’s house on Sunday along with minister Rahim Khan, reassured the student and his family members.

“Such a lapse by the staff of a private college is a painful thing. I have instructed deputy commissioner to be careful not to repeat such an incident in the future. I will provide free seat to the victim in my college at Bhalki,” the minister told reporters. “Such an incident should not have happened. We will initiate stringent action against the guilty based on the deputy commissioner’s report. The student’s academic future should not be affected hence he will be offered free engineering seat,” he said .

“Besides, the possibility of allowing Suchivrat to take the exam separately is being examined. I have spoken to the higher education minister about this. The student will also be allowed to write the COMED K (entrance exam conducted by private college management association) exam. If that seat is available, assistance will be provided. The government is with the aggrieved student and his family members,” Khandre added.

Meanwhile, similar cases have allegedly been reported from Bidar, Gadag, and Dharwad. Three Brahmin students have alleged that they were either denied entry into the exam hall or had their sacred thread cut and removed before the exam. In Bidar, another student was reportedly denied entry to write the CET paper. Following a complaint from the student and an explanation sought by the deputy commissioner of Bidar district, the Sai Deep Education and Charitable Trust dismissed the principal and a second-division assistant from Sai Spoorti PU College.

In Halakeri (Gadag district) and in Dharwad, exam authorities allegedly cut and threw the sacred thread into the dustbin.

“I was so disturbed after the incident that I couldn’t focus on the exam,” a student told reporters in Dharwad. The Brahmins associations across the state staged protest in may places condemning the incident. “The act of forcing a student to remove their ‘janivar’ while attempting to take the CET exam is an assault on the trust of the people,’’ Union minister Prahlad Joshi said.

“The government’s decision to suspend the officials involved is insufficient. It’s not only Brahmins who wear the Janivar, it is a matter of religious belief, and this should not have been disregarded. The government must take this seriously and issue a clear guideline on the matter,” he told reporters in Hubballi on Sunday.

Meanwhile, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday said the government is committed to taking action against whoever is at fault in the case involving the “desecration of sacred threads” of Brahmin students who appeared for the CET on April 16.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a new building of the Belthangadi Vokkaligara Seva Sangha and Vani Shiksha Sanstha, Shivakumar said: “The government will not interfere in the practice of religion. Our government is committed to protecting every religion.” “There is no need for anyone to worry. The state government will work to take everyone along,” he added.

With inputs from PTI