New Delhi: Members of the Brahmin community staged a protest on Sunday outside a NEET exam centre in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, after reports emerged that some students were allegedly asked to remove their sacred threads, known as Janivara, before being allowed to sit for the exam.
The incident came to light after a student named Shripad Patil was reportedly instructed to take off his sacred thread at St. Mary’s School, the designated examination venue. This led to outrage, prompting a group of Brahmin community members to gather outside the centre, where they raised slogans and held a sit-in protest.
Demonstrators accused the authorities of hurting religious sentiments and not adhering to the government’s existing guidelines regarding dress code and religious symbols during exams. A video shared by ANI showed protesters displaying their sacred threads and confronting security personnel.
In response to the backlash, the Karnataka government filed a case against the officials involved and issued revised guidelines to prevent similar incidents in future examinations. Despite this, protesters alleged that even on Sunday, several Brahmin students were again forced to remove or had their threads cut before being permitted inside the examination hall.
This controversy echoes a similar situation during the Common Entrance Test (CET) held on April 16, where students from the Brahmin community had also reportedly been asked to remove their sacred threads.
NEET exam 2025
The NEET UG 2025 exam was conducted nationwide on Sunday by the National Testing Agency (NTA), with lakhs of medical aspirants appearing across centres. Held annually for admissions to MBBS and related courses, the exam saw tight security this year following last year’s controversy over paper leaks and inflated scores. The NTA assured that all necessary measures were in place, including police-escorted transport of question papers, CCTV-monitored exam halls, and enhanced candidate screening. State governments were on high alert, and authorities also kept tabs on coaching centres and digital platforms to prevent cheating and ensure the integrity of the exam process.
