A huge controversy has been raging over appointment of Firoze Khan as an assistant professor in Sanskrit Vidya Dharam Vigyan of Banaras Hindu University with students objecting to a Muslim teacher for teaching Sanskrit.
But in a backward district of Odisha, a Muslim woman has been teaching Sanskrit to hundreds of students over last 27 years with her colleagues and officials vouchsafing her credentials as a good teacher. Hasan Tara, a 50-year-old Muslim teacher in Reamal block of Deogarh district has been teaching Sanskrit to her students in Khairpali high school without anyone ever raising any objection.
“She is quite a popular teacher in our school and is very diligent in her teaching. My daughter too studied under her and scored good marks in Sanskrit. She very hardworking teacher and tries to ensure that all her students score more than 70% in the Sanskrit examination,” said Khairpalli high school headmaster Anant Satpathy. The school has 160 students spread over in Std 8, 9 and 10.
Daughter of a civil contractor who had migrated from Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh in the 50s to work at Rengali dam in Angul district, Tara took a liking to Sanskrit and graduated in the subject. Later she did her post graduation in the subject and joined the school as a Sanskrit teacher in 1992. Tara says she never found the idea of Muslim teaching Sanskrit anything odd.
