Kashmir IAS officer Shah Faesal resigns, likely to join politics

New Delhi: IAS officer Shah Faesal, who became the first person from Jammu and Kashmir to top the civil services exam, resigned from his post on Wednesday, citing the “unabated killings in Kashmir”. 

Faesal is set to join politics and is expected to join the National Conference. NC leader Omar Abdullah confirmed the news of Faesal joining politics in a tweet, saying “welcome to the fold”. 

Faesal issued a statement on Facebook detailing his reasons for quitting his government post, and blamed the Union Government for the "lack of any sincere reach-out"  to improve the situation in Kashmir. He also said that he had decided to resign from the post of IAS officer due to the “marginalisation and invibilization of 200 million Indian Muslims”  and the “attack”  on the special status of Kashmir. 

He said in the statement, “To protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir, and lack of any sincere reach-out from the Union Government; the marginalization and invisiblization of around 200 million Indian Muslims at the hands of Hindutva forces reducing them to second-class citizens; insidious attacks on the special identity of the J&K State and growing culture of intolerance and hate in the mainland India in the name of hypernationalism, I have decided to resign from Indian Administrative Service.” 

He further said, “I wish to remind the regime of the day that subversion of



public institutions like RBI, CBI and NIA has the potential to decimate the Constitutional edifice of this Country and it needs to be stopped. I wish to reiterate that voices of reason in this country cannot be muzzled for long and the environment of siege will need to end if we wish to usher in true democracy.”

He thanked his parents and family for their support and even though he did not mention any plans to join any political party, Faesal said that he would hold a press conference on Friday to “share his future plans.”  

Meanwhile, former J&K Chief Minister and NC leader, Omar Abdullah reacted on the news of Faesal’s resignation by tweeting, “The bureaucracy’s loss is politics’ gain. Welcome to the fold.”  He later clarified that he had simply welcomed him to the “fold of politics”  and that it was Faesal’s decision to announce his future plans. 

Faesal had generated controversy last year after his tweet comparing India to ‘Rapistan’, during the Kathua and Unnao rape cases, had sparked a massive row, with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) initiating action against him. 

Faesal, a 2010-batch IAS officer had earlier served as the Managing Director of Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation. Following that, he went to Harvard University in the United States to pursue higher studies. He was slated to join his department in June this year.