A 26 year old woman from the Islamic community has broken barriers and has created a record by receiving a Doctorate in Sanskrit from Gujarat University (GU).
Salma Qureshi a student of the Sanskrit Department in GU chose to study about the guru-shishya tradition and her research thesis is titled “Puraneshu Nirupita Siksha Paddhati Ekam Adhyayan”. She was also the recipient of a gold medal during her MA from Bhavnagar University.
Speaking about the choice of this subject, she said that she had a special interest in Sanskrit from her childhood. She said that no one in her house opposed the study of Sanskrit. She now want to become a teacher in Sanskrit.
“Since all the Hindu philosophies are in Sanskrit, it is believed that Sanskrit is the language of God. I liked studying the Vedas and Puranas. My did not have any objection in me taking up Sanskrit for my higher studies”, Qureshi was quoted saying in the Times of India.
“The ancient guru-shishya system taught students to is explained how to respect all the people in the society which is missing from the present system” she said, adding that students should be given the freedom to choose whatever the language they wish to study.
She also said that Sanskrit should be taught compulsorily and that the government must make efforts to make the language reach common people.