Shah Faesal: Everything You Need To Know About The Emerging Kashmiri Leader

“I realized that life has come to a dead end in Kashmir. We are now nothing but a large crowd of numb mourners going from house to house and graveyard to graveyard, each one of us waiting for our turn to die. “

Shah Faesal at a funeral in 2018

Shah Faesal, an emerging politician from Indian Occupied Kashmir, saw state atrocities on his soil quite closely from an early age. His father was killed by militants when he was just 19 years old. Resilient like his people, despite hardships, he managed to make a name for himself and stood for his people whenever he could.

Achievements

He has numerous achievements to his name, the most notable is getting the first position in Indian Civil Services Examination. He was the first Kashmiri to secure the first position. After topping the exam, he was selected in Indian Administrative Service (IAS) on open merit.

“This is a punch on all those stereotypical notions that Kashmir can only produce terrorists”.

-Shah Faesal after securing first position in civil services exam

He was also awarded Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School in 2018. Faesal also has a MBBS degree from Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and a masters degree in Urdu.

Shah Faesal as a Civil Servant

Faesal had switched his career path from medicine to civil service in the hope of serving his people.

However, he became disillusioned once he realized that his job largely revolved around imposing curfews and jailing rights’ activists rather than serving the Kashmiri population.

Read: Everything You Need To Know About The Current Kashmir Issue

He resigned from IAS in January 2019 citing Indian atrocities in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) as the reason. At the time of his resignation, he was the Managing Director of the State Power Development Corporation in Kashmir.

“By the resignation, I am putting across a small act of defiance to remind the central government of its responsibilities towards the people of J&K.”

The Emerging Kashmiri Leader

After his resignation from IAS, he announced his entry into politics. He gave his first political speech in his hometown of Kupwara. He launched his political party, “Jammu & Kashmir Peoples’ Movement” (JKPM) in Srinagar on 17 March 2019.

He calls for phrases like azaadi and right to self-determination to be openly used in mainstream politics.

Shah Faesal has cited Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan as his role model, stating that it was Khan who inspired him to join politics. After an escalation of hostilities between Pakistan and India in February 2019 following the Pulwama attack, Faesal had praised PM Khan for “saving South Asia from a nuclear catastrophe.”

Stance on Recent Kashmir Issue

Arrest

Faesal appeared in BBC’s Hard Talk hosted by Stephen Sackur.

During his appearance on the show, he labelled Modi’s move to revoke Article 370 as the “murder” of the Indian Constitution.

Shortly after appearing on Hard Talk, Faesal was stopped at Indira Gandhi International Airport and was sent to Srinagar where he was placed under house arrest.

Protesting his illegal arrest, 120 students, faculty members and alumni of Harvard University wrote a letter to the Government of India asking for his release.

Faesal continues to remain in Indian custody.