Omar Abdullah welcomes ex-IAS officer Shah Faesal’s rejoining of government

Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, while welcoming IAS officer Shah Faesal’s rejoining of government said that he is going to serve the government that imprisoned him

Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, while welcoming IAS officer Shah Faesal’s rejoining of government said that he is going to serve the government that imprisoned him.

“Shah Faesal rejoins the IAS after a brief stint as a politician and a 10-month spell as a prisoner of the government he will now serve. I wish him well in his new/old responsibilities,” tweeted Omar Abdullah. (PTI File Photo)

Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Shah Faesal, who had tendered his resignation in 2019 in order to contest elections in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, has been allowed to rejoin the government, officials said on Thursday.

“Shah Faesal rejoins the IAS after a brief stint as a politician and a 10-month spell as a prisoner of the government he will now serve. I wish him well in his new/old responsibilities,” tweeted Omar Abdullah.

Faesal’s name figures on a list of IAS officers on the website of the J&K government’s general administration department at serial number 35, with the column for place of posting stating that he is “awaiting orders of posting in the general administration department”.

Faesal had topped the UPSC examination in 2009 and had worked in various positions in the J&K administration. Soon after resigning from the service, he had floated the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement with an eye to contest assembly elections in the erstwhile state.

He was detained at the Delhi airport on August 4, 2019, a day before the abrogation of J&K’s special status and its bifurcation into two Union territories, and was subsequently arrested on August 14, 2019, with the stringent Public Safety Act invoked against him February 2020. However, the charges were later dropped and he was released in June 2020.

In August 2020, Faesal resigned as president of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement, nearly 17 months after helming the party, and had removed the party’s name from his social media accounts, leading to speculations that he could rejoin the government or pursue other interests.