SRINAGAR: After central government ordered disciplinary action against him for his sarcastic 'rapistan' post on social media, the first UPSC topper from militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir and senior IAS officer, Shah Faesal is defiant and calls for "rule change" saying service rules with a colonial spirit are invoked in a democratic India to stifle the freedom of conscience.
Faesal's post on Twitter, "Patriarchy+Population+Illiteracy+Alcohol+Porn+Technology+Anarchy = Rapistan!" did not go well with the central government.
The Union Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) took a strong note of the post and wrote to J&K government to take disciplinary action against him.
35-year-old Faesal, 2010-batch IAS topper, released the letter by J&K Government's General Administration Department issuing show cause notice to him and warning of disciplinary proceedings on his Twitter account with a heading, "Love letter from my boss for my sarcastic tweet against rape-culture in South Asia."
Faesal, presently is United States pursuing Mid Career Masters Programme at Harvard Kennedy school, is defiant.
He has stressed the need for a rule change.
"The Irony here is that service rules with a colonial spirit are invoked in a democratic India to stifle the freedom of conscience," he tweeted. After facing trolls on social media for his rapistan comment and being labeled as "an anti-India rant", Faesal said, "What makes you think it's about India? And u forgot to tag PMO. I think".
"If rape is part of government policy then I pleas guilty for criticism of the government policy," he asserted. He stated that the larger question is that can government employees be asked to detach themselves completely from the moral questions of the society and keep quiet just because anything and everything can be read as critical of the government policy?
In response to a question on twitter that when you are part of a colonial bureaucracy that does not let you be you, seeking amendment of few rules with 'colonial spirit does not make any sense, Faesal replied, "That's a fact. It actually works that way. But then that does not make participation in the government any less important for our lives. I leave but the show will go o".
Earlier, on July 7 after killing of three civilians including a teenage girl in army firing in Kulgam, Faesal tweeted, "Extremely perturbed by the fresh spate of killings in Kashmir. I am away but there is no escape from the mourning. Grief travels faster than the speed of light."
In past also, Faesal's post had posted sarcastic comments on government guidelines and polices. On June 11, he had tweeted, "I am proud of this service but that does not blind me to need for reform in larger public interest".
"If the newly proposed IAS, Service/Cadre allocation policy is approved, it will turn IAS into ICS - Indian Chamcha Service," he had tweeted on May 20! In 2017, Faesal defied gov's gag order on its employees by posting, "Heard that government employees will be subjected to foot whipping for operating Facebook (account). From now on I will use coded language to update."