Before quitting politics, Shah Faesal had contacted top officials in the union government and spoke with National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval, before he announced his decision of leaving the party he founded, Jammu and Kashmir People’sMovement (JKPM) Report by Hindustan Times.
The 37-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician, Mr. Faesal had taken a tough stand on the New Delhi’s decision of abrogating J-K’s limited autonomy in August 2019. Soon after, he was slapped with the Public Safety Act and detained.
Mr. Faesal acknowledged that he has been in touch with officials in New Delhi, although he declined to specify details, the report added. “There has been a lot of speculation about the conversations I’m having with people in the government. I have been a member of IAS, and it’s nothing strange if I’m meeting people in the government,” he told the newspaper. “I have to live and work here and this is perfectly normal.”
Mr. Faesal had become the first person from Kashmir to top the Indian Administrative Services exam. Further, he suggested that he is not opposed to rejoining the service, and there is talk that he could be reinstated.
However, now, his views regarding New Delhi’s decision have changed: “I think we need to understand that in 1949 national consensus was about incorporating Article 370 and the 2019 national consensus is about scrapping it. We have to understand the mood of the nation and come to terms with the reality.”