Who is Shah Faesal? Know all about J&K IAS topper who quit service and joined politics only to return

Shah Faesal is a former Indian politician and bureaucrat from Jammu and Kashmir. Faesal, who had resigned from the IAS to join politics, has been appointed Deputy Secretary in the Tourism Ministry on Saturday.

After resigning from the services in 2019, he announced that he would be launching his own political party, the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM). However, in 2020, Faesal quit politics and started giving hints of his willingness to rejoin the services.

Career:

In 2009, Shah became the first Kashmiri to get first place in the UPSC civil services exam, which he cleared on his first attempt. He was also the first candidate from Kashmir in several years to be selected for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) through open merit. He was the fourth Muslim (after Independence) to top the civil service exam.

On 16 August 2012, Faesal was appointed as the assistant commissioner, revenue of Pulwama district. 26 March 2016, Faesal was temporarily given the additional charge of the vice-chairman of J&K Lakes and Waterways Development Authority.

Resignation:

Faesal resigned from the IAS in 2019, citing "unabated killings" in Kashmir among other things, announcing the resignation through a Facebook post.

He was also generally disillusioned with his role as a bureaucrat, which included jailing people and imposing curfews.

Faesal, who submitted his resignation and floated the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM) party, was detained under the stringent Public Safety Act immediately after the abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

In a series of tweets, he spoke about his idealism letting him down in 2019 when he resigned from the government service to join politics.

"8 months of my life (Jan 2019-Aug 2019) created so much baggage that I was almost finished. While chasing a chimera, I lost almost everything that I had built over the years. Job. Friends. Reputation. Public goodwill. But I never lost hope. My idealism had let me down," he said.

Reinstated:

The Central government on Saturday reinstated Shah Faesal and appointed him as Deputy Secretary in the Tourism Ministry.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in its order issued two days ago appointed Faesal in the Union Tourism Ministry.

The Centre's move comes four months after it accepted Faesal's application for withdrawing his resignation and reinstated him in the service in April.

(with agency inputs)

Published on: Saturday, August 13, 2022, 03:04 PM IST