Exclusive: I realised I can't make much difference in politics, says J&K bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal after quitting politics

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir's bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal on Tuesday (August 11, 2020) spoke to Zee News exclusively about his decision to quit politics, the road ahead and his next course of action.

Faesal had on Monday resigned from the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement, the party he founded last year after quitting the civil services. 

Shah Faisal, while talking to Zee News, said, ''I realised that in view of changed political circumstances, I can't make much difference in politics. I am a realist and want to promise only that which I can deliver.’’

About intense speculations that he might be re-joining the civil services again as his resignation has still not been accepted yet, Faisal said, “I have absolutely no idea at this moment where will I go next”.

While the entire political spectrum in Jammu and Kashmir is changing, Faisal wants to stay away from it and wants to work for the benefit of people. 

“People are gradually coming into terms with the new reality. Mainstream politics will get revived, with or without me. There is no running away from a representative government,” he said on WhatsApp reply to Zee News.

A statement issued by his party on Monday said, "Dr Shah Faesal had informed the 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 organization".

Shah Faesal, 37, who topped the 2010 civil services exam and was serving the state government, had quit his job in January 2019. He said it was his gesture of protest against the "unabated killings" in Kashmir and the "marginalization of Indian Muslims".

One of the most vocal critics of the Centre's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, he was taken into custody last year along with hundreds of other political leaders. In February, he was booked under the stringent Public Safety Act.

He was released last month.