Pick books, not stones: When General Rawat played perfect teacher to Kashmir's students

A record 26 boys and two girls from the state had cracked the IIT-JEE Mains Exam 2017.

Pick books and not stones was the inspiring message from the Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to the students from Jammu and Kashmir prepping for the engineering schools under the army's 'Super 40' initiative.

Nine have made it Indian Institute of Technology while 26 others have qualified for other engineering colleges. One got to see a completely different side to General Rawat who has been called all sorts of names by opposition parties and some left thinking writers in the country.

On Tuesday when he came face to face with the 35 students, he had inspirational quotes to tell and several stories to share. I hope there are more like you in Kashmir who will pick up books and not stones, General Rawat said.

" You were born well after the militancy peaked in the 1990s in Kashmir," General Rawat said. He also said that he had served in the state in 1981-82. The situation was good then. The situation started to deteriorate during my second stint in the Valley between 1991 and 1993. I have also done stints between 2006-08 and 2010-12, the Indian Army chief said.

The students who had broken all previous records this year listened intently and were clearly impressed to see a very different side to the tough General. Generations have been destroyed due to militancy and the fear has set in the minds of the Kashmiri youth. There is a constant fear that either the militant or the security forces will come, he said.

On one hand you have the militants and on the other the security forces. How long will we stay in such an atmosphere? It is time we put an end to this and all of us hope that peace will be restored, he said.

"Pick up books, laptops and not stones. Whenever you have time, you should devote it to studies," General Rawat said while making a reference to the scores of youth who had taken up stones. Let us make sure peace is restored so that we can carry out work without any problem, he also said.

A record 26 boys and two girls from the state had cracked the IIT-JEE Mains Exam 2017 including nine cleared the IIT Advanced Exam. This was the first batch in which five girls from Kashmir valley were coached, an Army statement read. The 'Super 40' students who did not clear the IIT-JEE Mains exam had made it through the state's entrance test for engineering.

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