New Delhi: Deputy Secretary in the Union Culture Ministry, Shah Faesal who had created ripples by resigning from the service in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 only to return to administration in 2021, on Monday said that situation in Jammu and Kashmir had “drastically improved” since the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.
Faesal, who had topped the 2010 IAS exam, made the remarks at the career counseling cum interaction programme for J&K youth at India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi. “The situation in Jammu Kashmir in the last few years has improved drastically . There is a lot of clarity in Poonch, Rajouri, and Kashmir and the academic environment has improved significantly. Jammu Kashmir now has been growing at a tremendous level and now we should not miss the bus," he said.
But Faesal was caught unaware about the civilian killings in the region. "In the last four years. things have improved drastically in Jammu Kashmir. No civilians have been killed, no Cordon and search operations (CASO) have happened, none of our students has been harassed", he said. Faesal's statement comes less than a month when three civilians were allegedly tortured to death by the soldiers day after an ambush attack on the security forces in Dera ki Gali area of Poonch district.
The civilian killings had led to a huge outcry and later Defense Minister, the Army chief had visited the affected areas and the bereaved families even as the Jammu and Kashmir government also announced compensation and jobs to the next of kin of the victims. On Faesal's claim over harassment of J&K residents in other states, there are several reports which claim that the harassment hasn't stopped yet.
Faesal said that "When India gained its freedom back in 1947, Jammu Kashmir was in extreme turmoil." "Later, in 1990's when liberalisation opened the economic gates and the process of transformation began, even then Jammu Kashmir was in turmoil and we again missed the bus", he said. "The students and the youth from J&K have witnessed extreme turbulence. During the peak years of bloodshed and violence and specifically from 1989-2019, we all have witnessed hartals impacting our regular life. I myself lost six precious years due to these hartals which not only affected our academic life but also our personal life as well," he said.
Shah Faesal had resigned from the service in 2019 and launched his own political outfit 'Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM)' but he later rejoined the services in 2021, raising eyebrows as people were surprised as to what could have happened which led to his sudden change of heart. Talking about his experience when he left the service, Faesal said "I was sitting in my Noida apartment and was thinking what should I do now? My wife is also an officer and she was then heading the expenses”.
“It was a tough time. I had all my degrees and 10 years of experience as an IAS but I was clueless. People used to call me a BJP supporter or some even anti-national. But at that time some people came to me who understood me and said that it is not bad to criticize. And then they gave me another opportunity so that I could rejoin and then I joined it in 2021," he said.
