'Dr Shah Faesal had informed state executive members that he is not in a position to continue with political activities and wants to be freed from the responsibilities of the organisation'
Days ahead of a scheduled hearing of a batch of pleas related to the abrogation of Article 370 before a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, Indian Administrative Service officer Shah Faesal on Tuesday said the constitutional provision is a thing of the past and there is no going back.
According to separate orders issued by the Home Department of the Union Territory, the PSA against Faesal, who was a 2010-batch IAS officer, Sartaj Madani, uncle of Mufti, and Peer Mansoor, her political advisor during her tenure as chief minister, was revoked 'with immediate effect'.
Faesal, who has been under detention after scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, was booked under the PSA on Friday night, according to the sources.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will commence day-to-day hearing from August 2 on a batch of petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a series of tweets, Faisal spoke about his idealism letting him down in 2019 when he resigned from government service to join politics.
In a notice to Shah Faesal, the General Administration Department said, "You have allegedly failed to maintain absolute honesty and integrity in the discharge of official duty and thus acted in a manner unbecoming of a public servant."
The court listed the matter for further hearing on August 23.
The president and other office-bearers of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement, a political outfit floated by IAS officer Shah Faesal in 2019, joined the Aam Aadmi Party in New Delhi on Thursday.
IAS officer-turned-politician Shah Faesal and two Peoples Democratic Party members, including the maternal uncle of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who were released from detention under the Public Safety Act earlier this week have been "informally" told not to move out of their houses, informed sources said.
About his decision of forming a political party, Faesal said he wanted to revive democratic politics in Jammu and Kashmir. "But soon after quitting (IAS), I realised that my innocuous act of dissent was being seen as an act of treason. It had done more harm than the benefit," he said, adding that his act had discouraged a lot of civil services aspirants and his colleagues felt betrayed by him. "It upset me a lot," Faesal said.
Faesal, who recently returned from a foreign training and was awaiting posting, said he had decided to resign from Indian Administrative Service, "to protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir, and lack of any sincere reach out from the Union government".
The former IAS officer said the main reason for not contesting the polls was to focus more on the mass contact programme.
"I plan to go to the field, listen to the ground, to the youngsters and important stakeholders and then take a decision," he said.
The angry reaction from the Director (School Education) came after some channels aired Faesal's pictures alongside Wani's bullet-ridden body.
JNU student leader and activist Shehla Rashid announced her joining of Faesal's party on the occasion.
The former IAS officer was illegally detained at Delhi airport on August 14 and taken back to Srinagar where he has been kept under house arrest.
Faesal's wife told the high court that she recently met him in custody and has received instructions to withdraw the habeas corpus plea.
Two constituents of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in Jammu and Kashmir have announced they are severing all ties with separatist groups. Union Home Minister Amit Shah welcomed the decision, asserting it will strengthen India's unity. The Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM) and the J&K Democratic Political Movement (JKDPM) have both distanced themselves from the separatist ideology, vowing allegiance to India and the Constitution. The JKPM, led by Shahid Saleem, and the JKDPM, led by Shafi Reshi, issued statements detailing their decision. Shah said the move is a big victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a developed, peaceful, and unified India. The APHC, which has been banned by the government, has been unable to address the legitimate aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Saleem said.
There's a virtual blackout in the Valley with few workable mobile phones and internet connections and prohibitory orders in place.
Faesal had no student visa, though he claimed that he was going to the United States for studies, the state government, through DIG, CKR, Srinagar, said in an affidavit.
'Know everything that there is to know about India. Learn about its politics, geography...' A fascinating encounter with Dr Shah Faesal, this year's IAS topper.
This is in addition to the four separatists whose security was withdrawn on Sunday.
Several petitions challenging the Centre's decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split J-K into two Union Territories Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh were referred to a constitution bench in 2019.
A doctor from Srinagar has topped the Civil Service Exams 2009. Shah Faesal, an MBBS degree holder from Srinagar, topped the prestigious examination in his maiden attempt.
Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan is thrilled that he stood second in his second attempt at cracking the prestigious UPSC civil services examination.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, reading out a resolution adopted at the meeting, said the parties have decided to send delegations to meet President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of political parties to apprise them about the consequences of any attempt to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution, or carry out delimitation of constituencies or trifurcating the state.
'The Governor himself had clarified matters on (Article) 35A yesterday in Baramulla and the day before in Srinagar,' the statement added.
In a series of tweets, Shah also questioned Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi whether they support the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a conglomerate of regional and national political parties in Jammu and Kashmir formed to demand the restoration of the Article 370, scrapped last year.
Officials said there was no discussion on constituting a delimitation commission.
Karnataka IAS officer S Sasikanth Senthil submitted his resignation from the service on Friday, telling 'friends' in a letter that the "fundamental building blocks of democracy are being compromised in an unprecedented manner".
According to the officials privy to the development, Centaur Hotel, owned by the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), has submitted a bill of nearly Rs 3 crore to the home department for over 100 days of boarding and lodging of the detenues.
Additional Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Munir Khan said restrictions in Jammu have been completely lifted.
'If you go by the essence of the Constitution of India, I don't see any problem in having a separate PM for J-K.'
'For a country that has successfully maintained its democracy for more than seventy years now, this sudden storm of hate is highly surprising.' 'My worry is that if the debate continues like that for some more time you will have an entire generation of Indians permanently inoculated with this germ of hatred.'
The selection of a woman Senator with an Indian background as the Democratic party's vice-presidential nominee should normally be a matter of elation in India, especially for those who boast of their nationalistic credentials such as the BJP followers, notes Amulya Ganguli.
It will require a political and tactical genius to, first, assuage the hurt feelings of the locals over the denial of their state's privileged status, and then to accommodate the national objectives of integration and development as spelt out by New Delhi, points out Amulya Ganguli.
Abdullah, who turned 50 on March 10, had spent 232 days in custody since the government announced abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5 last year.
'I asked a group of uniformed high school kids: Who was the one Kashmiri they admired?' 'I shouldn't have been surprised by the answer,' says Sunil Sethi.
The bench will be headed by Justice N V Ramana and also comprise Justices S K Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant.
