Mohammad Irfan, the 17-year-old son of a farm daily wage labourer Salauddin in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli district, has scored 82.71% in the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Sanskrit Shiksha Parishad Board’s Uttar Madhyama-II (class 12) examinations.
Irfan, who wants to become a Sanskrit teacher, is the only Muslim among the top 20 scorers in the Class 10 and Class 12 examinations. He beat 13,738 students who sat for the Class 12 examinations.
“I’m not sure why people associate a language with a religion. A Hindu can be extremely good at learning Urdu, while a Muslim can be very good at studying Sanskrit. I am a graduate who understands the value of education,” Irfan said, addressing media on the question of people connecting certain languages with some religions.
Asked if there were any issues after Irfan chose to study Sanskrit, Salauddin (51) said, “No, nothing at all. I was happy he had chosen a different subject to study and I encouraged him. It was a different choice as we are Muslims, but he was keen on it so I did not stop him. These things do not matter to us.”
“We do not subscribe to this thinking that only Hindus should study Sanskrit and that only Muslims should study Urdu. If he is studying the subject in primary and junior classes, he can study it further too. What is wrong with that? I do not see anything wrong,” said the elated father. “He wants to study Sanskrit literature and I will never stop him from pursuing something he is keen on. I am very proud of him.”
