Resignation an act of defiance to remind Centre of its responsibility towards J&K: Shah Faesal

Two days after he resigned from civil services, Shah Faesal Friday said the stepping down was “a small act of defiance to remind the central government of its responsibility towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Faesal also expressed that he is willing to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections but ruled out joining any political party “as of now”.

Faesal, who belongs to the 2009 batch of the IAS, had attributed his decision to resign to “the unabated killings in Kashmir and absence of any credible political initiative from Union government”.

To protest the unabated killings in Kashmir and absence of any credible political initiative from Union Government, I have decided to resign from IAS.
Kashmiri lives matter.
I will be addressing a press-conference on Friday.
Attached is my detailed statement. pic.twitter.com/Dp41rFIzIg

— Shah Faesal (@shahfaesal) January 9, 2019

A doctor by profession, Faesal was the managing director of the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKPDC) before he went to Harvard University in the United States to pursue further studies. He was supposed to join his department in June this year.

In 2009, Faesal topped the civil services examinations, becoming the first one to ace the test from Kashmir. He was allotted the Jammu Kashmir cadre and served in various capacities, including Director Education and Deputy Commissioner.

Faesal had invited the wrath of the government last year for his tweet on rape culture. “Patriarchy+Population+ Illiteracy+Alcohol+Porn+Technology+Anarchy = Rapistan!” he had tweeted.

The Centre had asked the J&K General Administration Department to initiate an inquiry into Faesal’s tweets, as he “allegedly failed to maintain absolute honesty and integrity” in discharge of his official duty.

Faesal is also the first bureaucrat to join the debate on Article 35A, comparing the petition to challenge it to a “nikahnama”.

With PTI inputs