Ex-armymen oppose Shah Faesal's reason to quit govt service

Former Army officers have expressed disagreement over the term "unabated killings" used by former Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal while announcing his resignation.

Former Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General (retired) DS Hooda said he does not agree with the term 'unabated killings' used by Faesal in his Facebook post on Wednesday.

"He may join any political party but I don't agree with his reasoning of unabated killings. I think security forces are working under extreme restraints in that area," Hooda said.

As speculations of the former Kashmiri IAS officer joining politics have started doing rounds, former Army chief general VP Malik voiced hope that Faesal would do something good in politics, if he joins.

 

"He (Shah Faesal) is a talented man and will contribute something good in politics if he joins it. But he is a Kashmiri too and has his feelings. As long as he follows the Constitution of India, he can fight for anything he considers right," he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, former Army chief General (Rtd) Deepak Kapoor said, "When the armed forces face stone pelters and people who try to protect terrorists, can you look for a way as to how do the security forces separate out individuals from terrorists? I don't think the killings are unabated. Efforts have been made at the Centre and state level to bring peace and stability in Jammu and Kashmir. But if you want to politicise the issue then outsiders like Pakistan army will take advantage of it."

Faesal quit government service on Wednesday, saying he was protesting against the "unabated killings" in Kashmir and "lack of any sincere reach-out from the Union government."

The 35-year-old alleged "insidious attacks on the special identity of the Jammu and Kashmir and growing culture of intolerance and hate in the mainland India in the name of hypernationalism."

In his post, Faesal said he decided to resign from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to "protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir, and lack of any sincere reach-out from the Union Government; the marginalisation and invisibilization of around 200 million Indian Muslims at the hands of Hindutva forces reducing them to second-class citizens."

He went on to add that "voices of reason in this country cannot be muzzled for long and the environment of siege will need to end if we wish to usher in true democracy.