A case of selective outrage Premium

In Karnataka, the responses to the ‘sacred thread’ and hijab controversies have been different

Recently in Karnataka, there were two instances of students from the Brahmin community facing hurdles at exam centres for wearing the janivara (‘sacred thread’). In both instances, the students had come to the centres to write the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (CET) 2025, which determines eligibility for admission to professional courses such as engineering and architecture. In one instance, two students in Shivamogga were initially stopped from entering the hall wearing their ‘sacred threads’, but were later permitted to write the exam after authorities intervened. However, in another instance, in Bidar, a student ended up missing the exam because the authorities did not allow him to enter wearing the ‘sacred thread’. Soon after these incidents, the authorities clarified that the ‘sacred thread’ was absent in the list of items that are not allowed inside the CET exam hall. They said that these were instances of “miscommunication” — by two Home Guards in Shivamogga and by a principal and a clerical staff in Bidar.

As the outrage over the two incidents escalated, the government responded swiftly. Those accused of creating barriers for the students were suspended in Shivamogga and dismissed in Bidar. The Bidar district in-charge and the Forest Minister, Eshwar Khandre, visited the student who missed his exam in Bidar. The Minister even offered a free engineering seat to the student, in his family-run college in Bhalki. Meanwhile, the Shivamogga Deputy Commissioner clarified that no one had “cut” the ‘sacred thread’ at the centre, contrary to claims circulating on several social media sites and TV channels. The government seemed to be on the defensive particularly because the controversy erupted days after the findings of the ‘caste census’ was tabled in the State Cabinet. The report has rattled the “upper castes” since it states that their population is “lower” than what they claim.

A section of the media and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party blamed the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah, known for championing the cause of AHINDA (minorities, Backward Classes, and Dalits). Brahmin groups held protests across the State. They were joined by BJP leaders in some places, who argued that wearing the ‘sacred thread’ was part of the religious rights of the community and had been violated.

The similarities between these incidents and a controversy in 2022, when colleges in coastal Karnataka shut their gates to girls wearing the hijab, did not seem to strike many people. It is true that the context of the hijab ban was different. The banning of the hijab was part of a move to prescribe a uniform at the Women’s Government PU College in Udupi in December 2021. It was led by a BJP MLA to ensure “equality in classrooms”. But soon, the ban spread to several colleges in coastal Karnataka. Many Muslim girl students quit college and did not write exams that year since they were asked to remove the hijab inside the institutions. In the present cases, ‘sacred threads’ were apparently not being allowed inside exam centres as part of attempts to curb exam malpractices. But these proved to be instances of overzealous invigilation. What is common between the two controversies, however, is the idea of religious rights.

Aliya Assadi, one of the five students of the Women’s Government PU College in Udupi who protested against the college’s ban on the hijab in classrooms, and who was a petitioner before the High Court and later the Supreme Court, sought to point out the different responses to the controversies. On April 20, she wrote on X: “Wearing a hijab is as important to us as wearing a janivara [is] to a Brahmin. Isn’t the pain of a Brahmin [who is] prevented from writing an exam for wearing a janivara and the pain of a Muslim girl [who is] prevented from writing an exam for wearing a hijab the same? Then why this difference? Officers who stopped students for wearing a janivara [were] immediately sacked. No action was taken against those who closed the gates of education for hijab-clad girl students... This is our system.”

The hijab issue is pending in court. Hearing a petition filed by the students who were not allowed inside classrooms wearing hijabs, the Karnataka High Court upheld the institution’s right to prescribe a uniform. A challenge in the Supreme Court led to a split verdict in October 2022. The case was transferred to a larger Bench, where it is yet to come up for hearing.

adhitya.bharadwaj@thehindu.co.in