Kashmir Students Find Haven in Kota

Coming from the Kashmir Valley where education process is often held hostage to strikes and disruptions, regular classes are a novelty for close to 1000 students of the state pursuing the dream of cracking medical and engineering exams in this coaching hub. For them the dream does not stop just at cracking the competitive exams but also using education as a weapon to fight militancy and terrorism.

The coaching hub, which attracts students from far and near, has seen a soaring number of students from Kashmir Valley making a beeline to its institutes. When Tabish Mushtak arrived in Kota from Kashmir to chase her dream of becoming a doctor, she realised how safe it was as compared to the valley. "The reasons are amply clear now. The place tends to the academic dreams of students and is safe as compared to the Valley that reels under the threat of militancy," she said. "Classes are regular here. But in the Valley, almost everyday, just before taking the road to the school, we would receive a message informing us about the tense situation," Mushtak, who is enrolled in a coaching center here, said.

"Landmines were planted in my school when I was in the seventh standard, and the building was evacuated," she recalled and added, "We live free here, without any fear". "I and my friends here want to become doctors. Education is the weapon with which we can fight militancy and terrorism," Mushtak said. Shireen Fatima, a resident of Sopore, said regular classes are a boon for them.

While one of the prominent coaching institutes here stated that they have close to 700 students from Jammu and Kashmir attending their classes, others said they were providing guidance to around 50 students. Adeep Kour, a NEET aspirant from Jammu and Kashmir, recalled that a bomb had exploded in her school when she was in the third standard. Thereafter, the school had remained shut for many days. "Here we are certain about regularity of classes and studies do not get affected, unlike in the Valley, where uncertainties loom," she said. Violence and strikes in the Kashmir Valley have led to disruptions in the academic calendar, with schools and colleges.