Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 19 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party leader Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday strongly condemned the incident in Bidar where a student was allegedly denied permission to appear for the CET exam due to wearing the sacred thread (Janeu), and another incident in Shivamogga where a student was allegedly forced to remove it.

In a post on X, Bommai stated that the Congress government, which seems ignorant of the country's culture, customs, values, and beliefs, is not only misusing the name of rule enforcement but also harming the future of students by committing acts that are essentially anti-religious.

'What obstacle does wearing a sacred thread pose to conducting exams transparently?' he questioned, adding that officials under a government lacking cultural understanding have acted without compassion, which is 'highly condemnable.'

He insisted that students who dreamt of becoming engineers but were deprived of the CET exam by uncivilised officials should be given a separate opportunity to take the test so that their academic future is not jeopardised.

'I urge the Education Minister and the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to take disciplinary action against the officers responsible in this case and ensure that such incidents do not recur,' Bommai said.

A student, Suchivrat Kulkarni alleged that his entry was denied at the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (CET) exam centre on April 17, at Sai Spoorthi PU College in Bidar because he was wearing the sacred thread (Janeu).

Speaking to ANI, Kulkarni said that he urged the Karnataka government to conduct a re-examination.

'I had my Mathematics CET exam on 17th April. When I reached the exam centre, the college management checked me and saw my Janeu. They asked me to cut it or remove it, only then would they allow me to appear for the exam. For 45 minutes, I kept requesting them, but finally I had to come back home...I demand that the government conduct a re-examination or provide me a seat in the government college,' Kulkarni said.

Reacting to the matter, Gurudatta Hegde, Deputy Commissioner of Shivamogga, said that the probe has been initiated and an FIR has also been registered.

'As you must be aware, three days ago an incident was reported in Shivamogga. Basically, two of the students were stopped while entering the exam hall, citing that they were wearing a holy thread. We have inspected the matter in detail and collected all the CCTV footage. We have also heard student concerns and spoken to officers in the place. After this, we found out that two of the Home Guards who were looking after the security before entering the exam hall showed a lack of knowledge and made mistakes on their part. The security personnel have been insensitive to religious sentiments. On that ground, we have suspended two of the home guards, and an inquiry has been initiated against them. In this regard, FIR has also been registered. If any other person is found involved, we will take action,' he said. (ANI)