Meet The (Indian) Muslim Girl Who Won The Bhagavad Gita Competition in Mumbai

Meet The Muslim Girl Who Won The Bhagavad Gita Competition,http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/10/bhagavad-gita_n_7022500.html, posted 10th April 2015

Small extracts from the article are given below:

Asif Naseem Siddiqui, her 34-year-old father, told HuffPost India that he encouraged his daughter to enter the competition on one condition. "I told her that she should take part to learn about Hinduism, not to cram for a competition," he said.

...

... Asif (the girl's father) said he was trying to make a difference in the one place where seeds of intolerance are first sown: Home.

"I can't control what is happening in Mumbai, Maharashtra, or India, but I can make all the difference in my own home. If everyone does the same then there is real chance for peace," he said. "Mariyam's education is very important because she has to set an example for her younger siblings."

When this reporter asked Siddiqui (the girl) whether she had a message for children in India, the 12-year-old said she was too young to dole out advice, but she encouraged them to think for themselves. "Most Indians respect all religions but some say damaging things. I would just say 'you must listen to your parents, but if your parents and teacher tell you to discriminate against others, then don't listen to them,'" she said.

--- end extracts ---

Ravi: Really great to read about such stuff. BTW some top political leaders of India took notice and have lavished praise on the 12-year-old.

I think Indian (and other countries too, I guess) school students should be actively encouraged to learn about scripture of all/important for their area, religions using interpretations and selections provided by mainstream & moderate leaders of various religions. It would be really great to have Hindu school students win a competition on knowledge of such selected parts of the Koran and Bible!

P.S. A small clarification about Radha and Krishna mentioned in the article. Actually, as far as I know, there is no mention of Radha in the Bhagavad Gita. But ISKCON, the group that held this competition, may have introduced some material on Radha in the Bhagavad Gita book they distributed to the school children