Kashmiri IAS Officer Shah Faesal reflects on his turbulent journey and a second chance under Prime Minister Modi
On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday, celebrated on September 17, IAS officer Shah Faesal—the first Kashmiri to top the Civil Services Examination in 2010—shared an emotional tribute, crediting the Prime Minister for restoring his dignity and giving him a new lease of life in public service.
From Hope to Despair—and Back Again
Faesal, a 2010-batch IAS officer from the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, recalled the lowest point of his personal and professional life, when he felt abandoned and forgotten. “A time came in my life when I found myself at the bottom of a ditch, professionally and personally. My qualifications still mattered on paper, but the world had moved on. Friends had vanished, recognition had faded, and the future felt sealed shut,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Amid this despair, he wondered whether his identity as a Kashmiri Muslim would forever close the doors of public service to him. But, as he recounted, redemption came sooner than he had imagined.
A Second Chance from a ‘Priest-King’
In his message, Faesal described Prime Minister Modi’s intervention in deeply personal terms. “He seemed to read the intent behind my journey, he forgave, the way a priest-king might—measuring not pedigree but purpose. It was a quiet gesture that restored my dignity,” Faesal said, portraying the decision as an act of profound empathy and vision.
He added that he would one day narrate the full story of his journey but, for now, marked the Prime Minister’s birthday with this heartfelt tribute: “Many happy returns of the day to the man who transformed a billion lives – Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.”
Shah Faesal: A Career of Courage and Conviction
A doctor by training, Faesal created history in 2010 as the first Kashmiri to top the civil services exam. Initially allotted to the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, he was later shifted to the AGMUT cadre after the abrogation of Article 370.
In January 2019, he resigned from the IAS in protest against what he called the “unabated killings” in Kashmir and the marginalization of Indian Muslims. He subsequently launched the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM), but withdrew from politics in August 2020.
His criticism of the government led to his detention under the Public Safety Act in February 2020. After almost a year in custody, he re-emerged into public life and was reinstated into the IAS in April 2022. By August 2022, he was appointed Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, calling it his chance to “start all over again.”
Modi at 75: A National Outpouring of Tributes
Faesal’s tribute was among many heartfelt messages from politicians, business leaders, and bureaucrats across India. Born in Vadnagar, Gujarat, in 1950, Narendra Modi’s journey from modest beginnings to leading the world’s largest democracy has been widely hailed as transformative, both in India and abroad.
For Shah Faesal, however, the tribute was deeply personal—an acknowledgment of forgiveness, renewal, and the rare opportunity to reclaim dignity in the service of the nation.
