My experience at IIT Jammu


My experience at IIT Jammu

When I walked into IIT Jammu for a Faculty Development Program recently, I expected to see a promising institution. What I found instead was a thriving ecosystem—an IIT that has grown with speed, focus, and dignity. And it forced me to confront an uncomfortable truth: Kashmir could have had this, but we didn’t let it happen.


My earlier impression of the Jagti campus was faint. A year ago, I had passed its main gate on a winter drive from Srinagar to Jammu and dismissed it as a small branch. From the highway, it looked modest, almost forgettable. But stepping inside this time, I realised appearances can deceive.


From the airport, I took my usual prepaid taxi. At the campus gate, an unexpected welcome awaited—a baggi, battery-powered yet styled in the fashion of heritage carriages.  

State-of-the-art labs, professional faculty, a serene setting perfect for research—it has all the markers of an institution that has been allowed to grow without political interference. The sight of my own former M.Tech students, now PhDs and post-docs at the same IIT, was deeply rewarding. And seeing foreign students from Europe and America here on exchange programs underscored a simple fact: when quality is built, the world comes to you.


But here’s the question no one in Kashmir seems to ask seriously: Why not us? Why doesn’t Srinagar have an IIT?


The answer isn’t hidden in Delhi’s corridors of power—it’s right here in our own backyard. We have perfected the art of sabotaging ourselves. The moment a major institution is proposed, the debate turns toxic: Which district will host it? Which community will control it? The conversation becomes less about excellence and more about entitlement. We bicker until the opportunity slips away.


In contrast, Jammu got the IIT and let it breathe. No endless tug-of-war. No paralysis by petty politics. The result? In a few short years, IIT Jammu has emerged as a model of focused growth—swift, steady, and world-class.


Kashmir must face this truth: we don’t lack talent, resources, or visionaries. We lack the collective maturity to put excellence above ego. Until we fix that, we will keep watching others build what we only talk about.


IIT Jammu is not just an institution; it is a mirror. And for Kashmir, the reflection is uncomfortable.


In the end, IIT Jammu teaches us one thing: great institutions don’t grow where politics overshadows purpose. Until Kashmir learns to choose merit over map, and excellence over ego, we will keep exporting our brightest minds—and importing our regrets.


Dr. Sajad Hussain Deen

sajad_08phd12@nitsri.ac.in




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