PSA Spree: Former IAS Topper Shah Faesal Booked

Srinagar, India —

Continuing its spree of Public Safety Act (PSA) detentions, the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir today booked J&K People’s Movement (JKPM) leader Shah Faesal under the stringent act.

Shah Faesal, former IAS topper, who switched from bureaucracy to politics, is yet another Kashmiri leader to be booked under the act which allows detention for up to two years without a trial.

Pertinently, Faesal’s political career turned short-lived after the BJP-led Central government abrogated the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in August last year.

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He had launched his party Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM) just months prior to the Central government’s August 05 move, which saw the erstwhile State especially the Valley of Kashmir in a state of lockdown for months together.

Faesal resigned from bureaucracy “in protest” on 09 January 2019, citing “unabated killings” in Kashmir among other things.

Earlier, three former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — and other top-rung political leaders were booked under Public Safety Act after they completed six months in detention.

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