Guwahati: The only Muslim student of a school under a Hindu management has topped the high school examination of the northeastern Indian state.
Sarfaraz Hussain topped the High School Leaving Certificate Examination (HSLC) with 590 marks out of a maximum 600. The results were declared on May 31.
He studied in Sankardev Sishu Niketan in Guwahati, the state capital. It is among several schools managed by Assam’s Sishu Shiksha Samiti (child education society) which is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the umbrella organization for Hindu rightwing groups.
Others before him have had similar scores. But Sarfaraz, 16, is the first Muslim to pass from a school run by an affiliate of the RSS’s education wing.
Sarfaraz had to overcome several hardship in his life to achieve this feat.
“I worked hard. I never wanted to let my parents down. They worked even harder to provide me facilities. I’m happy that my results have made my parents proud,” he said.
Sarfaraz’s father Azmal Hussain who works at a restaurant, broke down after he got the news of his son, reports ummid.com.
“I don’t know how to react. I’m so happy today. I’m indebted to the Almighty and all the people who helped me. The teachers of his school have also been a great help,” said Hussain as tears rolled down his cheeks.
Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Sarfaraj’s home to congratulate him on his success, and announced a 500,000-rupee reward in addition to 1 million to his school for infrastructure development.
Sarma said the government will deposit in a bank account in Sarfaraj’s name and he could use the money for future studies.
The overall pass percentage in this year’s tenth grade exam, conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam, improved slightly to 62.79 percent from last year’s 62.20 percent. A total of 381,585 candidates appeared for the examination, 239,614 passed it.
Boys outperformed girls, with 64.11 percent boys clearing the exam compared to 61.56 percent girls.