Shah Faesal rejoins govt service, says life has given him 'another chance'

Srinagar, Apr 28 (PTI) Former IAS officer Shah Faesal, who had quit the government service in 2019 citing rising intolerance in the country and to float a political party, has rejoined the service, officials said on Thursday.

They said Faesal’s resignation had not been accepted.

Faesal’s services have been kept at the disposal of the J-K’s general administration department, the officials said, adding “he is awaiting the orders of posting”.

Faesal, who was the first UPSC topper from Jammu and Kashmir, had on Wednesday dropped hints about his return to the government service.

In a series of tweets, he spoke about his idealism letting him down in 2019 when he resigned from the government service to join politics.

"8 months of my life (Jan 2019-Aug 2019) created so much baggage that I was almost finished. While chasing a chimera, I lost almost everything that I had built over the years. Job. Friends. Reputation. Public goodwill. But I never lost hope. My idealism had let me down," he said.

"But I had faith in myself. That I would undo the mistakes I had made. That life would give me another chance. A part of me is exhausted with the memory of those 8 months and wants to erase that legacy. Much of it is already gone. Time will mop off the rest in believe," he added.

Though Faesal did not spell out what he meant by "another chance", speculation has been rife here over the past one year that he might return to the government service either as an IAS officer or in some advisory role to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Just thought of sharing that life is beautiful. It is always worth giving ourselves another chance. Setbacks make us stronger. And there is an amazing world beyond the shadows of the past. I turn 39 next month. And I'm really excited to start all over again," he tweeted.

There was an outpouring of support for the IAS topper from his friends and former civil services colleagues.

Faesal, who had topped the UPSC examination in 2009, resigned from the service in January 2019.

He floated his own political party -- Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement -- in March that year and had plans to contest the assembly elections which were to be held.

He was arrested in the wake of the Abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into union territories on August 5, 2019.

However, after his release, Faesal gave up on politics and started dropping hints of making a coming back to the government service.

He has been an ardent supporter, on social media, of the present BJP government's policies. He has been often sharing speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on his Twitter handle.