Till yesterday Shah Faesal the first muslim and Kashmiri IAS topper was an aspirer for thousands of youth in and outside Jammu & Kashmir but quitting IAS for joining politics with the remark “Kashmir lives matter” have reduced him from an aspirer of the youth to a follower of few politicians in Jammu & Kashmir. As an aspirer for the youth Faesal would find only admirers but today he finds critics issuing statements against his decision of quitting IAS the elite service of the country. Till yesterday he as a bureaucrat was at liberty to maintain his professional integrity and take only right decisions to show his commitment to righteousness but in politics he would find it difficult to maintain even his own integrity and truthfulness to have people on his side. Till yesterday he as a bureaucrat would by choice propose or oppose a decision at his own will but now he has to take dictations from the political bosses who have risen to the top positions only due to their parental background. Shah Faesal won’t himself dispute the fact that had the parents of the top mainstream politicians not been the founders of major political parties in the state then even they won’t even imagine about holding the positions they have held before or after the eruption of armed uprising in the state. Even the parents of those who preach autonomy and self rule could not end the cycle of killings in Kashmir and now Shah Faesal saying “ Kashmir lives matter” can’t create an impression that a quitting IAS officer could stop the civilian killings as a parliamentarian or a legislator. May be as IAS officer Shah Faesal could have influenced the decisions on crowd control policing but even the remotest possibility of Shah Faesal influencing the central or the state government on any security related decision is ruled out possibility. Till yesterday people in any part of the state would welcome him with open arms but today a single political remark “Kashmir lives matter” has won him criticism not appreciation.
If the leaders like Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti could not persuade the central government to replace the pellet guns by less lethal weapons which won’t kill and blind gullible Kashmiris how come the Shah Faesal a new born politician can persuade the central government to demilitarize Kashmir and reach out to the separatist leadership for a lasting solution to seventy year old Kashmir issue. So Faesal as an IAS officer could have been a good aspirer for many youth but he would be only a follower of few politicians in mainstream politics. Faesal! Kashmir Horizon wishes you good luck in your future endeavours.
Among the separatist leaders the learned Mirwaiz has put him to corner with his one line statement “hope his words Kashmir lives matter would guide his decision on politics” and Mirwaiz’s statement by all standards of understandabilities is his indirect invite to Faesal to join separatist politics. Otherwise also even naives can question Shah Faesal that if he is so concerned about the killings in Kashmir then why not to join separatist politics keeping in view the fact that the regimes headed by both National Conference and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) are owning the responsibility for the hundreds of killings during clashes with government forces in the years 2010,2016 , 2017 and 2018. If the leaders like Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti could not persuade the central government to replace the pellet guns by less lethal weapons which won’t kill and blind gullible Kashmiris how come the Shah Faesal a new born politician can persuade the central government to demilitarize Kashmir and reach out to the separatist leadership for a lasting solution to seventy year old Kashmir issue. So Faesal as an IAS officer could have been a good aspirer for many youth but he would be only a follower of few politicians in mainstream politics. Faesal! Kashmir Horizon wishes you good luck in your future endeavours.
