Rampur (UP), Jan 18 (PTI): Breaking stereotypes, 11 Hindu children have enrolled in a Madrasa here while as many as 140 Muslim boys have joined an RSS-run school.

According to the principal of Madrasa Jameeatul Ansar, it is the parents' love for the Urdu language and literature which motivated them to put their children in the Madrasa.

The Hindu students and their parents "love Urdu" and poets like Mirza Ghalib, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Jigar Moradabadi and others have a following, cutting across distinctions of community religion. Also, the families are keen that the children learn the traditional etiquette," said Khalid Ansari, principal of the Madrasa.

Madrasses have for long been associated with traditional Islamic religious teachings, but now most of them have joined the mainstream education system and are teaching mainstream subjects.

Ansari says 11 Hindu boys have been enrolled in the Madrasa, who besides learning other subjects, study Urdu language with keen interest.

The students from both the communities also offer morning prayers together.
Meanwhile, about 140 children have been enrolled in a school run by the right-wing organisation RSS, known for its Hindutva ideology.

"As many as 140 Muslim boys have been enrolled in various classes of Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College," college principal Jitendra Singh said.

"The day starts for the students with surya namaskar and singing of Vande Mataram besides vedic hymns," he said.

Singh later said all the students take their lunch together.

Speaking about the Muslim students, Singh said that a pass-out of the institute, Danish Mustafa, has succeeded in getting an engineering job in Saudi Arabia, and claimed hundreds of Muslims students have availed very good jobs in various parts of the country.