On Wednesday while the nation was busy discussing the ten percent reservation for the economically weaker section of the forward community, the popular Kashmiri bureaucrat quietly announced his decision on the twitter and the Facebook. The reasons that he has given in his public resignation will quickly catapult him to the popular league of leaders not only in Kashmir but also among the Muslims in the country. And by coming out boldly against the Modi Government he has all the chances of becoming the poster boy of the anti-Modi brigade.

Shah Faesal has been very vocal about the situation in the valley. He has repeatedly condemned the violence happening in Kashmir in which an increasing number of Kashmiri youth are dying. And when he resigned from his service, he has made sure that the reason for his resignation is known by all. In his post he has written, “To protest the unabated killings in Kashmir and absence of any credible political initiative from Union Government, I have decided to resign from IAS. Kashmiri lives matter.”

Shah Faesal has attacked the Modi government for what he says is growing intolerant atmosphere in the country.  In the past also he has condemned lynching by Gau Rakshaks and the attacks on Muslims in the country. And now in his Facebook post he says, “The marginalization and invisibilisation of around 200 million Indian Muslims at the hands of Hindutva forces reducing them to second class citizens, growing intolerance and hate in the mainland in the name of hyper nationalism, I have decided to resign from IAS.”

  Shah Faesal has also referred to the central governments interference in constitutional institutions. He says, “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.” He goes on to write that he believes that the 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.

Reacting on the resignation, National Conference President and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah was very quick to tweet back.  He tweeted: the bureaucracy’s loss is politics’ gain. Welcome to the fold.”

This tweet by Omar Abdullah has made it clear that Shah Faesal has indeed joined politics. And perhaps he is already in the National Conference fold and may fight for Lok Sabha seat.

Shah Faesal, however has not made this very clear in his Facebook post. He has written that one of his important tasks hereafter will be to train and guide the aspiring civil servants to help them in achieving this dream.  He has said that he will be announcing his plans on 11th Feb in a press conference.

Shah Faesal was the first Kashmiri who topped the civil services in 2009. The Mufti government made him the Director of Education in the Jammu and Kashmir state. But he was transferred to the power department after he wrote that ‘he is the director of empty schools’ in his Facebook after the valley was plunged in strife following the terrorist Burhan Wani encounter.

 Since the day Shah Faesal joined the nation’s bureaucracy, he has been aware of his soaring graph in the social networking world and his ability to strike a chord especially among the youth across the country.  His bold views have often been lapped by a vast section. And now after resigning from bureaucracy, he has added to the brigade which is leading the so called ‘intolerance movement’ in the country.