Mumbai: 12-year-old Muslim girl beats 3000 students to win 'Gita Champions League' contest

Mumbai, Apr 3: A 12-year-old Muslim girl Maryam Siddiqui from Mumbai has surprised one and all after winning 'Gita Champions League' contest.

Maryam, a class VI student, left nearly 3000 students behind in the written competition based on the Bhagwad Gita, organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) in January this year.

The girl was given the first prize in the 100 mark multiple choice question based test, which evaluates children on their knowledge of the holy scripture of Hindus. [Mumbai: Teachings of 'Bhagwad Gita' to be introduced in municipal schools]

"I have always been inquisitive about religions and I often read up on them during my free time. So when my teacher told me about this contest I thought it would be a good chance to understand what the book is about. My parents too supported my idea of participating in the contest," Maryam was quoted by TOI as saying.

Muslim girl Maryam Siddiqui, who won 'Gita' competition in school shares a "sher" https://t.co/OZ9EOY1fqJ

— ANI (@ANI_news) April 3, 2015

Maryam studies in Cosmopolitan High School, Mira Road, and has always been inquisitive about religions and read about them in her free time. Maryam also used to have conversations about religion with her parents.

"Our family believes that one needs to respect and accept all religions. No religion preaches hatred or wrong," said her father, Asif Siddiqui.

In an interview to ANI Maryam shared her thoughts and said, "Humanity is the ultimate religion."

All municipal schools in the city and suburbs would teach 'Bhagwad Gita' to students in order to make them more focused, boost their morale and impart them knowledge about spiritualism, a civic official in Mumbai told last month.

OneIndia News