Srinagar: Kashmir’s first IAS topper (2010 batch) on Wednesday tendered his resignations to protest against the “unabated killings” in Kashmir, and lack of any sincere reach-out from the Union Government.
Taking to social networking site Facebook, Faesal wrote: “The marginalization and invisiblization of around 200 million Indian Muslims at the hands of Hindutva forces reducing them to second-class citizens; 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 hypernationalism,
I have decided to resign from Indian Administrative Service.”
“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. I wish to reiterate that voices of reason in this country cannot be muzzled for long and the environment of siege will need to end if we wish to usher in true democracy.
“I am thankful to my family, friends and well-wishers for supporting me in this 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.
“I will be addressing a press conference on Friday to share my future plans.
I will look forward to your support and blessings in this new mission.”
Earlier in the day reports said Faesal is scheduled to join the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference. Faesal, 35, who comes from the Lolab valley in north Kashmir’s Kupwara, is believed to be eyeing the Baramulla constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“He applied for voluntary retirement the day before, but the process takes time since it has to be approved by the DoPT,” a source familiar with the development told ThePrint.
Faesal has just returned to India from a stint as a Fulbright fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He arrived in the Valley on 2 January, after which he decided to resign.