2010 IAS topper Shah Faesal quits bureaucracy, to join politics, Omar welcomes

Srinagar: A top IAS officer from Jammu and Kashmir Shah Faesal has resigned from the country’s elite service. Meanwhile National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has welcomed Shah Faesal for quitting bureaucracy and tending to join politics.
Faesal has sent a letter seeking volunteer retirement from country elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to Department of Personnel & Trainings (DoPT). For acceptance of the volunteery retirement it takes some time for routine processing till its acceptance by the competent authority. For last many months Shah Faesal was dropping hints that “ he might resign sooner or later” and the inevitable happened Wednesday this week when he resigned from the IAS
The IAS topper took to his Facebook and wrote a detailed post on why he had decided to quit ,“To protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir, and lack of any sincere reach-out from the Union Government,” he said.
Faesal further said that the marginalization and invisiblization of around 200 million Indian Muslims at the hands of ‘Hindutva’ forces reducing them to second-class citizens had also played a role in his decision to quit the services.
“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 hyper nationalism, I have decided to resign from Indian Administrative Service. ” he wrote
Faesal who is likely to join National conference and contest Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla said that NIA had the potential to decimate constitutional edifice of the country.“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.” Faesal wrote on social media site Facebook.Adding that that voices of reason in the country cannot be muzzled for long and the environment of siege will need to end if we wish to usher in true democracy. He further thanked his family, friends and well-wishers for supporting him in what he termed an amazing journey in IAS, “One of my important tasks here-after will be train and guide aspiring civil servants to help them in achieving this dream.” He stated.He further said that he will address a press conference on Friday to share his future plans.
Faesal cleared the civil services exam in 2009, becoming the first Kashmiri to top the test. After joining the IAS, he was appointed director of school education in the Kashmir Valley. Last year, inquiry was launched against him for a remark on rampant rapes in south Asia. Criticizing the rape culture in the region, Faesal had referred to south Asia as “Rapistan”.
Meanwhile National Conference Vice President and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took to twitter to welcome Shah Faesal for quitting bureaucracy and joining politics as he wrote on twitter, “The bureaucracy’s loss is politics’ gain. Welcome to the fold @shahfaesal.” Faesal has just returned to India from a stint as a Fulbright fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Mehbooba Mukhdhoomi who along with Shah Faesal co-authored an article on Kashmir tweeted: “My prayers have not been answered, as I conveyed in my last two posts. I tried my best to stop him from going into this gutter. But then it’s his life. And I vehemently call his decision ‘preposterous’ and advise everybody else to refrain from joining the collaborators. All the flak that I got would’ve been worthwhile if I were to succeed. Pro-India politics is anti-Kashmir politics, with no ‘ifs’ & ‘buts’. You’ve hurt us all. And if you too are disgusted, don’t go out to vote.”
Basant Rath, the popular cop wished best of luck to him. “All the best, Doctor. Do incredibly good things for our people. In case you need anything, you know I’m just a text away.”