Urdu medium girl tops NEET, Muslims figure among successful

Their newest frontier is All India NEET UG 2024 Exam. The icing of the cake is an Urdu medium girl topping the coveted competition. 

Amina Arif Kadiwala, who hails from humble background and has been a student of Madni High School, Jogeshwari, Mumbai, has scored perfect 720 out of 720 marks.

Besides, Muslim students who have cleared NEET belong to almost all regions of India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. 

In fact, Muslim students have topped in 8 states like Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Ladakh and Rajasthan.

Though the exact figures of Muslims sailing through NEET is yet to be compiled and made public, random reports collected from across India show a galaxy of them – majority of them hailing from lower middle class backgrounds, and even madrasa passouts and orphans making the cut.

Some of the stories shared on social media of NEET successfuls reveal that many students who cleared the exam are religious and some girls even sport hijab.

Aysha S. of Koyilandy in Kozhikode, Kerala, secured All-India Rank 12 and emerged the Kerala state topper with 710 marks. She secured second rank in the OBC category at the national level. 

She comes from a place where it is not rare for Muslim girls to get married off immediately after completing 10+2 level of education. 

Studying 15 hours every day helped her to crack this exam, her parents told a social media influencer. Parents also supported her in dropping a year after plus two so that she could exclusively focus on NEET preparation.

Besides being good in academics she is also regular in prayers including tahajud namaz (pre-dawn prayers), according to her parents.

Another student topper is Kehkashan Parveen of Jamshedpur. She has topped Bihar and, like Aysha, has been dutiful, diligent and religious student who wears her hijab with pride.

Similarly, Amina Arif Kadiwala from Mumbai, the topper, has been a thorough religious student. She also wears a hijab and performs namaz regularly.

 According to her classmate Ismail Gulab Shaikh, Amina has set a benchmark.

 “Amina’s journey from our beloved Madni High School to this pinnacle of success is a testament to her dedication and resilience. Special thanks to the supportive community at Excellent Master Academy Jogeshwari for nurturing her potential and guiding her towards greatness,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

As an SSC student from an Urdu medium background, Amina faced numerous challenges but remained steadfast in her pursuit of excellence. 

Her achievement has not only brought pride to her family and school but also serves as an inspiration to countless other students from similar backgrounds.

Madni High School, known for its commitment to providing quality education, played a significant role in nurturing Amina’s talent.

She revealed that initially it was a challenge for her as she was weak in English, but slowly she learned the language and aced the exam.

Amina’s NEET success story has been the toast of the social media ever since it was broken on Tuesday evening. Muslims have been sharing her example to motivate young Muslims to follow suits. 
One girl, Bisma Ali from Shopian was also among the NEET qualifiers. She, like Amina and Aysha, is a hijabi girl and comes from a non-English background.

In other examples of Muslim success stories in NEET, some social media users from Kashmir said that even some orphans from a Srinagar orphanage were among the NEET qualifiers. Though they didn’t share their details, their success was lauded by many on Facebook.

Several madrasa students, and even a hafiz among them, were said to have cracked NEET as well. 

A little known Anjuman School of Science in a rural area of BanasKantha district of Gujarat shared on its FB handle a list of 11 Muslim students who cleared the NEET in their very first attempt. 

The success of Muslims in NEET has been notified by all and sundry. Since this success comes at a time when all the discussion is happening about politics after the announcement of 2024 general election results, the NEET achievements have instilled a rejuvenated sense of hope in the community watchers.

Asad Ashraf, a Delhi-based journalist, was ebullient over the success of Muslims in competitive examinations despite challenges. 

“Crisis also creates opportunities, opens doors to new avenues. Muslim certainly have been through a very rough time in recent past years but the community’s response is also overwhelmingly positive. Muslim youths have certainly become conscious about progress and empowerment.

There is no empirical data to prove what I am saying but a simple glance at UPSC results in recent years, Muslims doing pretty well in prestigious NEET and similar exams, and the desire to have representation in all public spaces, political participation are reason enough for us to believe that the future is certainly bright,” he wrote on his FB wall.