In a State where the pursuit of linguistics has been compartmentalised on religious lines ... The news of a Muslim girl securing the first rank in Kerala University's BA Sanskrit examination comes as a heart-warming development.

The noteworthy ... distinction achieved by M.H. Fathima, to the delight of her father Mehboob Khan, is that she belongs to a conservative Muslim family, which followed the traditional practice of sending all the five children to a madarsa for their early education ... Fathima's younger sister Ayesha ... has passed the pre-degree examination from the Government Sanskrit College in the city in the first class and has joined BA Sanskrit course ...

Fathima's desire is to go for post-graduate studies in Sanskrit and then take her B.Ed before trying her luck as a Sanskrit teacher ...

(Source: The Hindustan Times, 8 August, 1998)