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.
The board requires Sanskrit language and literature as two compulsory subjects, along with other subjects.
Irfan, who aspires to be a Sanskrit teacher, is the only Muslim among the top 20 scores in classes 10 and 12.
The boy reportedly got admitted to the Sampurnanand Sanskrit Government School because that is the only school his father could afford to send him to. Salauddin earns a mere Rs 300 per day and the school charged Rs 400-500 as an annual fee.
Irfan comes from a devout Muslim family and his father said that they have never stopped the kid from achieving his dreams.
“In junior classes ‘Sanskrit’ was a compulsory subject and it was from there that he 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, speaking to The New Indian Express.
Irfan on language- religion connection
“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.
