In Telanagana, Hindu women forced to remove mangalsutra before exam citing absurd reasons

A shameful discriminatory and unacceptable incident happened at an examination centre in Narsapur of Telangana’s Medak district where Hindu women appearing for a recruitment test were forced to remove their Mangalsutra. This incident has sparked protests.

Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) conducted the examination. The exam was for the recruitment of village revenue officers (VROs) in 2,000 centers across the state of Telangana. Over 10 lakh candidates appeared for just 700 posts. Officials at Little Flower School centre in Narsapur forced the Hindu married women to remove their Mangalsutras before entering the examination hall.

The reason cited by the officials was bizarre and absurd, to say the least. They claimed that there was a possibility of hiding electronic devices for cheating purposes in Mangalsutra. They also claimed that according to TSPSC instructions candidates are not allowed to sit in examination hall carrying gold ornaments.

The women said to officials that removing a Mangalsutras is considered as inauspicious in Hinduism and against the Hindu beliefs and hurts religious sentiments of Hindus. But the officials were reluctant and refused to pay any heed to what women were saying. As a result of this, many women were forced to remove the Mangalsutras and hand it over to their husbands who had come to the centre with their wives.

The husband protested against the callous attitude of the authorities.

Hindustan Times quoted a man, Shiva Kumar, showing his wife’s Mangalsutra to the local media, “We came all the way from Vikarabad. My wife Madhumati was forced to remove her Mangalsutra before she was allowed into the hall. The authorities did not listen to her request to respect her sentiment.”

Forcing women to remove their Mangalsutras is a direct attack on the fundamental right of Hindus to profess their religion. Many women refused to remove their Mangalsutras and some women even approached the local police in order to bring the high-handed behaviour of the officials to their notice.  After the intervention of the police, authorities allowed the remaining women to enter into examination hall with their Mangalsutras.

As the controversy erupted, TSPSC chairman Ghanta Chakrapani clarified that it had never issued any instruction asking women to remove their Mangalsutras before entering the examination hall.

In the past also TSPSC faced strong criticism for its absurd decisions such as banning the wearing of shoes, sporting of tattoos and mehndi for candidates appearing for various exams.

According to some twitter handle, men were also asked to remove their sacred thread before entering the examination hall. On the other hand, women with Burkha were allowed to enter the examination without any restriction. It looks like possibilities of hiding any cheating material or electronic device under Burkha are very less as compared to Mangalsutras.

The BJP and ABVP protested against this shameful incident at various places in Telangana. The ABVP called the act ‘insensitive and anti-Hindu’. It demanded action against the officials responsible for hurting the sentiments of Hindus.