Srinagar: While some Kashmiri students were creating unrest in the Valley by pelting stones at security forces, 40 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) aspirants from the violence-torn state were undergoing coaching with the Indian Army to compete in the one of the toughest exams in India.


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Nine of these Super-40 students have cracked the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination-Advanced (JEE-Advanced) test, the results of which were announced on June 11. Sarvesh Mehtani, a student from Chandigarh, topped the JEE (Advanced) examination.


Notably, 26 boys and two girls from the Army`s Super-40 coaching initiative had cracked the IIT-JEE Mains Exam held this year.


On Tuesday, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat met and complimented some of the "Super 40" students here, an official said.



Stressing that generations have been destroyed due to unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army Chief today exhorted students in the state to choose laptops and books to help end the cycle of violence.


Addressing the Kashmiri students, he said their success was not an easy feat and and they have now become a shining example for the youth in the Valley.


Referring to his stints in Jammu and Kashmir, which has in the recent past seen rising incident of stone pelting, Rawat said his first posting in the state was in 1981-82 when the "situation was good".


The situation started deteriorating during his second posting between 1991 and 1993, the Army chief said, noting that he also had stints in J&K from 2006-2008 and then from 2010-12.


"I have seen the situation. How many generations will see this gunfire and smoke from explosives?" he asked.


"Generations have been destroyed due to this. The fear that has set in the mind of people of Kashmir and the youth... (that) a militant or the security forces will come."


"So you have militants on one side and security forces on the other. How long will we stay in this atmosphere. We have to put an end to it. We wish that peace is restored there and we carry out our daily work without any problem," Rawat said.


The Army conducts coaching at Srinagar with its training partner Centre for Social Responsibility and Learning (CSRL) and Petronet LNG.


The initiative for coaching Kashmiri students for engineering entrance examinations was launched in 2013.


(With Agency inputs)