Bushra Mateen, a civil engineering student of SLN College of Engineering, Raichur, won 16 gold medals at the 21st annual convocation ceremony of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Belagavi. Bushra thus set a record for the most number of gold medals by a student in VTU’s history to date, overhauling the previous tally of 13.She won the Shri SG Balekundri gold medal, JNU University gold medal, VTU gold medal, RN Shetty gold medal among others including cash prizes.
Her father Sheikh Zaheeruddin had tears of joy watching his daughter receive a bunch of medals from the dignitaries. “My father is a junior engineer. Drawing inspiration from him, I opted for the civil engineering course, said Bushra, who aspires to become an IAS officer. Bushra never went to tuition. She always believed in her own efforts. I am very proud of her, Zaheeruddin said. Continuing further she said, “I always referred to textbooks as it increased my knowledge and prepared me for a competitive environment. I believed in God and never compared myself to others. I believe nothing is impossible to achieve if you have self-confidence and determination,” added Bushra who also expressed her gratitude towards the faculty of SLN College of Engineering for guiding her throughout the degree. The teenager's win proves a point to anti-Hijab forces and Bushra Mateen wears Hijab since her childhood and says the headscarf has never come in the way of her studies. “Hijab is my choice and fundamental and constitutional right. It has never come in my way to achieve my target nor has any non-Muslim ever objected to it. I have never faced any problem right from my school days to college because of wearing Hijab,” she said.