Karnataka Exam Centre row has broken out in Shivamogga district following reports that students who were appearing for the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (CET) were made to drop their sacred threads (Janeu) before going inside the examination center. A reaction to this, the local police registered an FIR against CET exam conducting officer at Adichunchanagiri School in Sharavathinagara. The development has become a cause of statewide concern regarding religious freedom and protocol adherence at the exam centers.
As per official reports published on Friday, the FIR has been registered under sections 115(2), 299, 351(1), and 352, read in conjunction with Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. A complaint was made by an individual named Nataraj Bhagavath stating that students were being forced to remove religious symbols against their belief.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) that oversees CET exams throughout the state has issued no official explanation yet. Nonetheless, the incident has evoked a strong outcry from political activists and education bureaucrats.
Karnataka Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar denounced the incident as “very unfortunate.” During a media briefing, he assured that the same complaints had arisen from an examination centre in Bidar too. “This incident is not confined to Shivamogga alone. It also occurred in Bidar. Apart from these two centres, the CET was held smoothly throughout the state,” he added.
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The Karnataka exam centre row has posed a fundamental question — were exam officials told to override religious feelings in the name of standard exam procedures? Minister Sudhakar explained that no such order had come from the education department or KEA. “There were no instructions to cut religious threads or remove symbols as part of frisking or checking measures. It is unacceptable and action will be initiated against those involved,” he stated.
He reaffirmed the state government’s pledge to maintain religious harmony and personal freedoms during the examination process. “We hold all religions, faiths and customs in respect. Our procedures are clear—no religious symbol will be removed unless it affects examination security, and in this instance, there was no such situation,” Sudhakar added.
The minister also emphasized that accountability would be created and that the matter would be investigated thoroughly. “We are not going to tolerate this kind of overreach. We have ordered a report and the concerned authorities will face consequences if found guilty,” he said.
The FIR and subsequent investigation now aim to uncover whether there was a miscommunication of guidelines or a deliberate act of discrimination on the part of the CET exam officials at the Karnataka exam centre in question.
At the same time, parents of the affected students expressed strong anxiety about the psychological effect on their children. “It’s traumatic asking a child to take off a religious thread just before sitting down to write an important paper,” commented Ramesh J., parent of one of the candidates.
Civil society activists and student union members have also spoken out against the authorities as insensitive. The students of one youth organization staged a peaceful march, urging the KEA to release clear dos and don’ts to avert such actions in the future.
Legal professionals drew attention to Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which enshrines in citizens the freedom to practice their religion and believe as they wished, and a violation of the same could always be challenged by a court. “Unless a religious article involves a threat to security or serves as a material for cheating purposes, there’s no legal premise to request that a student disrobe,” wrote advocate Manjunath K.
As the matter catches attention, pressure mounts on the KEA to react. Being one of the most competitive of exams for securing admission to Karnataka’s engineering and medical colleges, it is most important for transparency and fairness of the process if the process itself is to command credibility.
The Education Department has now requested a detailed report from the CET conducting officer at the centre. Authorities have also directed the concerned District Education Officer to provide CCTV footage and statements of invigilators and staff members who were present on the spot.
This incident comes in the wake of recent installation of QR code-enabled facial recognition systems at CET centres in Karnataka to keep impersonation and malpractice at bay. As much as technology has enhanced examination integrity, this controversy has proved that human judgment in implementing protocol is still a delicate area.
With students waiting for results and rounds of counselling, the Karnataka exam centre controversy has acted as a reminder of the thin line between upholding discipline and keeping diversity intact.
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