Muslim boy from RSS-run school tops Assam HSLC examination

A Muslim boy studying in an RSS-managed school has topped the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examination in Assam this year with the Sangh Parivar claiming it "shattered the mainstream propaganda about RSS."
"I am proud to have been a student of this school. It is because of my school that I have been able to secure the top position in the state," Sarfaraz, the student, told reporters.
The 16-year-old secured the top position scoring 590 out of 600 marks (98.3 per cent) as per the HSLC result declared yesterday.
Besides winning several awards in Sanskrit essay writing, he had also topped the all-Guwahati Gita recitation contest a few years ago.

"I had no problem chanting prayers in Sanskrit, including the Gayatri Mantra," said Sarfaraz, who has always scored full marks in Sanskrit till Class VIII.
Felicitating Sarfaraz, Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government would bear his educational expenses by giving him Rs five lakh by way of a fixed deposit.

For the future, he aspires to be an engineer.
School principal Akshay Kalita said Sarfaraz also has the distinction of being the first student from Sankardev Sishu Niketan at Betkuchi to secure a place in the merit list of the first 20 of HSLC exam.
The youngster's father Ajmal Hussain, who works in a restaurant here, said he never thought it wrong to enroll his son in the school which is run by the Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan or Vidya Bharati, the educational wing of the RSS as he wanted his children to get quality education.

Sarfaraz, who lives at Jyotishree Nagar in Lalganesh area of the city with his parents Ajmal Hussain and Suriya Begum, says he worked hard despite financial problems of his family studying 12 to 18 hours a day before the examination.
Sangh Parivar sources said Shankardev Vidya Niketan, Shishu Bharati, is one of the many RSS-run schools and teaches no religious fundamentalism. "There is no different syllabus for the schools and no one is taught to hate. Instead everyone is taught to love his or her country, which all schools teach."
"Sarfaraz's success shows the acceptance of the much maligned organisation across all demographics and it shatters the mainstream propaganda about RSS ... Contrary to the propaganda, RSS is not anti-Muslim or anti any religion but is pro-India with no communal agenda. Its only aim is to serve the country through imparting quality education," an RSS source said.