No Proposal Yet on Appointing Ex-IAS Officer Shah Faesal as Advisor to J&K L-G: Sources

 

 

The 37-year-old tendered his resignation from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in January 2019 to launch a new regional party.

 

 

Early-level talks were held but no proposal has been considered yet on appointing former IAS officer Shah Faesal, who quit politics last year following his detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA), as advisor to Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha, highly placed sources have told CNN-News18.

 

The news of Faesal’s appointment came at a time when civilian killings have seen a sharp rise in the Valley. Seven civilians, including four from minority communities, have been killed by militants in five days in Kashmir. However, CNN-News18 has learnt that while talks in the direction were held, no concrete decision has been taken so far.

 

Shah Faesal, who topped the IAS exam in 2009, was hailed as a youth icon for those in the Valley. He had resigned from the Indian Civil services in January 2019 and floated a new political party in Jammu and Kashmir that same year in August. But he abruptly quit politics last year amid speculation that he may return to government service. Even though his political venture went into cold storage, Faesal has a deep connection with the people in the Valley.

 

 

 

The 37-year-old tendered his resignation from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in January 2019 to launch a new regional party — Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM) — of which he became the first president. He was the first candidate from the erstwhile state who topped the civil services exam.

 

 

 

Faesal, a 2010 batch officer, was strongly critical of the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5 in 2019 and was arrested from Delhi airport days later before he could board a flight to Turkey. He was subsequently taken into preventive detention and later booked under the draconian Public Safety Act from which he was released in June.