Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Apr 22: With the state still reeling from the controversy over Brahmin students being asked to remove their sacred thread ('Janivara') during the CET exams, the 'Hijab' issue has once again resurfaced on social media, sparking renewed debate.
Aliya Asadi, a student activist who had earlier led the Hijab movement from a government PU college in Udupi, took to social media platform ‘X’ to question the government's differing responses to the two incidents.
“Isn’t the pain of a Brahmin student denied writing exams for wearing the sacred thread and a Muslim girl student denied for wearing a hijab the same?” she asked. “Then why is there partiality between the two cases? As the sacred thread is important to Brahmins, the hijab holds similar religious significance for us,” she wrote.
Asadi further pointed out the swift action taken in the 'Janivara' case. “The officer who removed the sacred thread was suspended immediately. But no action was taken against the officer who closed the college gates on us,” she said.
She also criticised the government's gesture of offering a free seat to the affected Brahmin student. “No one even bothered to ask whether we were able to appear for the exams or not,” she added.
Aliya Asadi was among the first to raise the demand for the right to wear the 'hijab' in the Udupi government girls’ PU college—a movement that grew into a major controversy with national and international ramifications. Her latest comments have once again stirred a public conversation about equality, religious rights, and the perceived double standards in handling such issues.