IAS officer quits service in protest against Jammu and Kashmir killings

Supporters of National Conference hold placards at a protest against recent killings in Srinagar on December 20, 2018. Pic/AFP

Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal on Wednesday said he had quit the coveted service to protest against unabated killings in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and against the arginalisation of Indian Muslims by Hindutva forces, "reducing them to second class citizens".

Faesal made the announcement on his Twitter page as news of his decision spread. "To protest unabated killings in Kashmir and the absence of any credible political initiative from Union government, I have decided to resign from IAS. Kashmiri lives matter," he said. He said he would address a press conference on Friday.

After topping the civil service exam in 2010, Faesal was allotted the home cadre of J&K. He served as district magistrate, director of school education and managing director of the state-owned Power Development Corporation.

He recently returned from the US where he had gone on a Fulbright fellowship from Harvard Kennedy School. Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah confirmed Faesal's decision to join politics. Abdullah tweeted, "Bureaucracy's loss is politics' gain. Welcome to the fold."

Informed sources said Faesal was likely to join the National Conference and fight the Lok Sabha election from Baramulla in the Kashmir Valley. Faesal also issued a detailed statement outlining the reasons for his decision.

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