What next, Mr Shah Faesal?

By Ishaq Begh. Dated: 1/23/2019 2:15:10 PM

When Shah Faesal cracked the India's top most civil service examination held under UPSC (IAS) as a topper in 2010, he became an inspiration for the youth. Indian politicians and other apparatus of the state used Shah Faesal's image to mainstream the Kashmiri youth angry over the increasing human rights violations since 2008. Shah Faesal's rise was seen as a positive change through the Indian spectrum.
Later, over various issues, Shah Faesal who headed several important departments like Education, was made a scapegoat by the politicians of PDP-BJP coalition government but he showed exemplary courage to resist and oppose such machinations. After some years of service he left Kashmir for a fellowship in Harvard. Meanwhile, back home in Kashmir, the situation was worsening day by day and innocent killings at the hands of uniformed men were a routine. Shah Faesal, recently wrote on the wall of a social media platform that Harvard changed his mind set vis-a-vis Kashmir issue. But it is not only Harvard university which helped Faesal to understand the Kashmir issue, last year he took to social media where he openly called India a "Rapistan", (Patriarchy + Population+ Illitracy + Alcohal = Rapistan) after reacting to a news item, "Porn addict rapes 46 year old mom in Gujrat. On this, he was issued a show cause notice by the central government. Undeterred, he wrote that repealing article 35A of the constitution would end Jammu and Kashmir's relationship with rest of the country; and also averred that Jammu and Kashmir's special status must not be touched at all because it poses no threat to the integrity and sovereignty of India. For his many tweets against mob-lynching in the last one year, he was even called as "anti-national" by the rabid Indian ultra-nationalists.
A couple of years ago Faesal courted controversy in Kashmir by arguing that Kashmiris have no choice but to go back to the drawing board and see what went wrong and at the same time advocated Indian supremacy. He even advised fellow Kashmiris not to hope against the might of the state. It is the nature of Kashmir conflict which has a potential of changing the mindset of people. Shah Faesal advocated for India and tried to refurbish the decaying bridge between India and Kashmir by suggesting the separatist camp to windup their business of false hope and macabre heroism and to find a dignified exit. Mr. Faesal is an intellectual and has a hold on conflict studies; he must be well aware of the fact that conflicts involve the parties easily but do not let them escape or exit.
After witnessing a continuum of innocent killings Shah Faesal moved by the bloodshed took early retirement from civil service. He is now free to live his life with the highest percentage of dissent. Now he is not an advocate of any integration theory because all such theories have fallen apart. What he was earlier is not now; now India and Kashmir both have new images in his mind. Now saffronization, intolerance and rising hatred in India make him see Kashmir differently. Conscience needs simply a drop of nectar to wake up. Leaving an affluent and esteemed service which allows one to deliver the goodness to the needy masses may not have been a good step but witnessing bloodshed with silence is simply the nature of callousness.
What if Mr. Shah Faesal joins the pro India politics at this juncture? It is a fact that people who remain in power in Kashmir don't lead the aspirations of the people and who lead the aspirations are always out of power that too languishing in torture centers or jails. We have seen that after a good turnout in polls, Indian politicians wrongly claim it as a sign of integration of Kashmiris. Prior to the polling, Kashmir has witnessed a trend of local politicians selling dreams of high value but once they acquire power, the detested legacy of betrayal follows. If Faesal ends up entering the electoral politics fray, as is speculated, will he repeat such a tradition or make a real difference: this remains to be seen.
(The author can be contacted at ishaqbeghkullar @gmail.com)

 

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