The state government will take stern action on people responsible for forcing Brahmin students to remove their sacred threads before allowing them into the examination hall, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday, breaking his silence on the raging controversy.
Cases of students having to remove their sacred threads before entering their common entrance test (CET) hall have emerged from Shivamogga, Bidar and Dharwad district sparking widespread protests from the Brahmin community.
These acts were unlawful. No one should impose rules that interfere with one’s religious faith and must limit such rules to only prevent any malpractice in the exam. Not beyond that, the CM told the media. “We will not tolerate such acts. We will take disciplinary action against the officials concerned.”
Siddaramaiah’s comments came a day after Dy CM DK Shivakumar condemned the incidents and promised action in the presence of the seer of Sringeri mutt.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) general secretary Dr Sankara Guha Dwarakanath urged the party government to be sensitive to the beliefs and practices of Brahmins and stand by the community by initiating timely action. He regretted that the Congress did not demonstrate the kind of protest it registered when Muslim girls were affected in the Hijab issue (during the previous BJP reign).
In Belagavi, Brahmin community members held a protest demonstration condemning the incidents.
Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Sunday visited the house of Suchivrath Kulkarni and assured him of support including a free engineering seat. Kulkarni had returned home without taking the test after he refused to comply with demands for his sacred thread.
The stray incidents assumed crisis proportions only after Kulkarni’s incident went viral. Students either removed their threads or cut them before entering the exam hall. One of them displayed his snapped thread to the media in Dharwad on Sunday.
Sources said the rule barred students from wearing metal objects including ornaments to prevent any possibility of examination malpractice including use of advanced Bluetooth devices. It, however, did not extend to cotton threads, but a few officials and guards interpreted otherwise, leading to unsauvory incidents involving sections of students.
Cases of students having to remove their sacred threads before entering their common entrance test (CET) hall have emerged from Shivamogga, Bidar and Dharwad district sparking widespread protests from the Brahmin community.
These acts were unlawful. No one should impose rules that interfere with one’s religious faith and must limit such rules to only prevent any malpractice in the exam. Not beyond that, the CM told the media. “We will not tolerate such acts. We will take disciplinary action against the officials concerned.”
Siddaramaiah’s comments came a day after Dy CM DK Shivakumar condemned the incidents and promised action in the presence of the seer of Sringeri mutt.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) general secretary Dr Sankara Guha Dwarakanath urged the party government to be sensitive to the beliefs and practices of Brahmins and stand by the community by initiating timely action. He regretted that the Congress did not demonstrate the kind of protest it registered when Muslim girls were affected in the Hijab issue (during the previous BJP reign).
In Belagavi, Brahmin community members held a protest demonstration condemning the incidents.
Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Sunday visited the house of Suchivrath Kulkarni and assured him of support including a free engineering seat. Kulkarni had returned home without taking the test after he refused to comply with demands for his sacred thread.
The stray incidents assumed crisis proportions only after Kulkarni’s incident went viral. Students either removed their threads or cut them before entering the exam hall. One of them displayed his snapped thread to the media in Dharwad on Sunday.
Sources said the rule barred students from wearing metal objects including ornaments to prevent any possibility of examination malpractice including use of advanced Bluetooth devices. It, however, did not extend to cotton threads, but a few officials and guards interpreted otherwise, leading to unsauvory incidents involving sections of students.
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