Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Aug 10: The bureaucrat turned politician, Dr Shah Faesal, saying goodbye to politics came as a “big surprise.”
The IAS topper in 2010 had quit his job, eight years after him being made a part of the J&K IAS cadre.
Before saying goodbye to his job Shah Faesal had taken a one-year leave in 2018 to pursue further studies at Harvard University in the United States. Soon after coming back, he resigned from his post as a civil servant and decided to form a political party of his own. He launched Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement in March 2019.
But things changed in the erstwhile state after the government decided to remove the special status of J&K in August by abrogating Article 370. He was detained and remained in detention for nearly six months.
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “Shah Faesal’s decision to quit politics is a message to all the regional leaders that politics in J&K post August 5 is an altogether a different ball game. Times have changed and so have the political equations.”
It may be recalled that soon after Shah Faesal topped the IAS, he became the role model for the youth. After his success many Kashmiri youth tried to follow his footsteps and tried cracking the UPSC exams. During the past ten years many youth from Kashmir have become IAS officers and are serving in different parts of the country.
The analyst said, “Shah Faesal seems to have realized that politics in Kashmir is different from the politics in other States and Union Territories.”
He said, “Kashmir has many dimensions and agenda of development only is not enough. During the past seventy years, politicians in J&K have tread on different paths. Every time they had a different slogan. Kashmiris have been fed with everything from self rule to autonomy and achievable nationhood. Centre’s decision to abrogate J&K’s special status on August 5, 2019, ended all the slogans and packages which were sold to people during the past seventy years.”
It’s in place to mention here that a civil servant Arvind Kejriwal, who quit his job and joined politics in Delhi has been ruling the national capital for the past seven years. “Kejriwal becoming the Chief Minister had inspired many civil servants to follow his footsteps as people of Delhi have been impressed by his governance model,” the observer added.
He said, “Shah Faesal during his tenure as a bureaucrat tried his best to remain active but due to compulsions, he couldn’t do much.”
After quitting the government job Shah Faesal in his first political speech in Kupwara district had acknowledged that his hands were tied. Prior to August 5, 2019, Fasesal tried his best to bring all the mainstream parties at one single platform to oppose any move to revoke J&K’s special status but couldn’t do much. “Speculations are rife that he may join the administration once again. He too has hinted that he would like start a second inning as a bureaucrat. Now it remains to be seen whether the government will consider him or not,” the observer added.
Shah Faesal’s decision to quit politics a big surprise!
