*NEW DELHI – *Shah Faesal, who topped the civil service examinations in2010 and worked as an IAS officer in Jammu and Kashmir, has resigned fromthe civil services to protest the “unabated killings in Kashmir” and riseof Hindutva forces, the Wire has reported.
“To protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir, and lack of anysincere reach-out from the Union Government; the marginalization andinvisiblization of around 200 million Indian Muslims at the hands ofHindutva forces reducing them to second-class citizens; insidious attackson the special identity of the J&K State and growing culture ofintolerance and hate in the mainland India in the name ofhypernationalism, I have decided to resign from Indian AdministrativeService,” Faesal said in a Facebook post.
Faesal also brought up the “subversion of public institutions like RBI, CBIand NIA” under the Narendra Modi regime, saying it had the “potential todecimate the constitutional edifice of this country”.
The state government has received Faesal resignation, according to the *IndianExpress*link.
As soon as the news of his resignation spread on social media, NationalConference leader Omar Abdullah welcomed Faesal to the political fold.
The bureaucracy’s loss is politics’ gain. Welcome to the fold @shahfaesallink.link
Read Top Stories
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) January 9, 2019link
Reacting to social media posts which claimed that Faesal will join the NCin the coming days, Omar said he only welcomed the IAS officer topolitics. “Actually I welcomed him to the fold of politicians. His futurepolitical plans are his to announce,” the former chief minister said.
In July last year, the Jammu and Kashmir government had initiateda departmental inquirylink intoFaesal after he tweeted about frequent rapes. The Centre’s Department ofPersonnel and Training reportedly asked for the inquiry.
On April 23, Faesal had tweeted, “Population + Patriarchy + Illiteracy +Alcohol + Porn + Technology + Anarchy = Rapistan”. Speaking to *The Wire*,Faesal had said then, “Such actions are usually taken by invoking ConductRuleslink.One, behaviour unbecoming of a civil servant, and second, criticism ofgovernment policy. Now it’s a matter of interpretation. Anything andeverything can be read as behaviour unbecoming of a civil servant andcriticism of government policy if we are not serious enough aboutrespecting freedom of speech and expression of people.”
