Kashmir IAS topper Dr Shah Faesal has triggered a storm by quitting his job. He has taken everyone by surprise. He has said that he would join politics but has not declared which party he would be joining.
Shah Faesal’s resignation has triggered a chain reaction from Kashmir to New Delhi. Kashmir based politicians have welcomed his decision to join the politics but a few people in Delhi have castigated him for quitting the top post.
Faesal, a 2010 batch IAS officer, has given up a lucrative career and a high profile job to protest against what he said, “unabated killings” in Kashmir. His resignation has raised many questions. When Shah Faesal topped the IAS exams he was projected as the youth icon in Kashmir and the people who are criticizing him today couldn’t stop praising him.
Shah Faesal as an IAS officer during his eight year service career got a chance to observe how the system works as he was an important part of that system. Is it that Shah Faesal realized that topping IAS is not enough? He got a chance to work with National Conference, Congress, Peoples Democratic Party and Bharatiya Janata Party during these eight years. He may have realized that it’s the writ of politicians that prevails and IAS, IPS officers and others have to do as directed.
There is every possibility about Shah Faesal opening up in coming days and telling the people how system works. But his resignation has put Centre in a tight spot. Think-tanks sitting in New Delhi would have to sit back and come up with a completely new policy vis-à-vis Kashmiri youth, who are very much aware about their rights and are openly resenting the treatment being meted out to them.
Kashmiri youth are fed up of lip service and want some concrete steps to be taken to make Kashmir a better place to live. In 2018 highly qualified youth, who had turned rebels, were killed in gunfight with the forces. Is radicalization the only reason which is pushing Kashmiri youth away from the system?
People who claim to be experts on Kashmir are trying to drive home a point that Shah Faesal has resigned because he had political ambitions but this cannot be the only reason. He (Shah Faesal) was a highly placed officer with all the facilities at his disposal. He had a permanent job and a secure life. Shah Faesal having political ambitions is no answer.
The policy makers need to come out from their comfort zones and realize that “All is not Well” in Kashmir and they cannot just keep on brushing aside one issue after another. New Delhi has to change its attitude towards the people of Kashmir and has to ensure that they get the respect which they deserve. The policy of treating every Kashmiri as a suspect needs to be revisited.
Shah Faesal’s resignation has made one thing amply clear that Kashmiri youth are fed up and want things to change so that the future generations could breathe freely. Every Kashmiri youth knows it very well that violence is no solution and they deserve a better life.
Politicians, who have been ruling J&K, for all these years should sit back and think have they been able to make the lives of youth better during their rule? J&K has been directly under Centre’s rule for the past seven months can the people at the helm claim that they have worked towards making the lives of youth better? Whosoever has ruled J&K during the past three decades has just concentrated on somehow projecting Kashmir as a normal place. Kashmir during all these years has been just viewed as a “law and order” problem and nothing more. No concrete attempt has been made to reach out to the Kashmiris, especially the younger generation.
It’s unfortunate that for some media organizations Kashmiri youth are just “stone-pelters” and militants. The focus of these channels has just been on “demonizing” the Kashmiri youth. The need of the hour is to embrace Kashmiri youth and address their grievances rather than pushing them to the wall. Shah Faesal’s resignation is an alarm. This is a serious development which cannot be just ignored at the pretext of safeguarding national interests.
(The Writer is Member of JK Youth Alliance)
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