Muslim boy pips 14,000 students to top UP Sanskrit Board exam

LUCKNOW: Mohammad Irfan, the son of a farm labourer in UP's Chandauli, has topped the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Sanskrit Shiksha Parishad Board's Uttar Madhyama-II (class 12) exams, scoring 82.7% and beating nearly 14,000 students to become the highest scorer. The Board has Sanskrit language and literature as two compulsory subjects, along with other subjects.
Irfan (17), who dreams of becoming a Sanskrit teacher, is the only Muslim among the top 20 scorers in the classes 10 and 12 examinations.
His proud father, Salauddin, recalls that he got Irfan admitted to Sampurnanand Sanskrit Government School because that was the only school whose fees he could afford. "I am a farm labourer earning a daily wage of Rs 300 and am employed for a few days every month. I couldn't afford to send Irfan to a private or any other school," said Salauddin, a resident of Jindaspur village.
Salauddin said Irfan was always good in studies and began taking a keen interest in Sanskrit from the very first day in school. "He was so dedicated to his studies that he never complained about anything - our small house or the bare minimum facilities. We don't even have a cemented house," he said, adding that the family got money for construction of a pucca house under a government scheme a month ago.
"I don't know why people connect a language with a religion. A Hindu can be very good at learning Urdu and Muslims can excel in Sanskrit," he added. Salauddin said the family won't stop Irfan from pursuing his dream. "In junior classes Sanskrit was a compulsory subject and Irfan developed a liking for the language. He now plans to do Shastri (equivalent to BA) and Acharya (equivalent to MA) and will then look for a job as a Sanskrit teacher," he said.