Is Shah Faesal returning to IAS?

J&K govt website says he is ‘awaiting orders of posting’

Amid speculations that former IAS officer Shah Faesal, who was the first UPSC topper from Jammu and Kashmir, would return to service, the General Administration Department (GAD) website said the officer is ‘awaiting orders of posting'.

Earlier, the site said he (Faesal) has submitted his resignation, “which has been forwarded to the DOPT, GOI for acceptance.”

Thirty-nine-year-old Faesal on Wednesday, in a series of tweets, hinted that he was returning to service by stating that his idealism let him down in 2019 when he resigned 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 (sic),” he tweeted.

“But I had faith in myself. That I would undo the mistakes I had made. That life would give me another chance. A part of me is exhausted with the memory of those 8 months and wants to erase that legacy. Much of it is already gone. Time will mop off the rest In believe (sic),” Faesal added.

Although Faesal did not spell out what he meant by "another chance", the GAD website offered the idea that it was a matter of time before he rejoined service. There was an outpouring of support for the former IAS officer from his friends and civil services colleagues.

Faesal, the 2010 IAS topper, left the civil service on January 9, 2019, to launch the J&K People’s Movement. He had said that the “unabated killings in Kashmir, lack of political outreach from New Delhi, marginalisation and invisibilisation of around 200 million Indian Muslims at the hands of Hindutva forces, and hate in the mainland India in the name of hyper-nationalism” as reasons for his resignation.

However, just seven months after the launch of the JKPM, the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and most of the high profile politicians, including Faesal, were taken into custody. He was subsequently booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) which was revoked in June 2020.

After his release, Faesal gave up politics and started dropping hints of making a comeback. He has been an ardent supporter, on social media, of the present government's policies.

In 2010, when he became the first IAS topper from J&K, he instantly became a youth icon across the Union Territory (UT).

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