New Delhi: On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday, IAS officer Shah Faesal, the first Kashmiri to top the civil services examination in 2010, shared a heartfelt message acknowledging the Prime Minister’s role in giving him a second chance in public service.
A Journey from Hope to Despair and Back
Faesal, a 2010 batch IAS officer from the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, recalled the darkest period of his professional and personal life when he felt completely abandoned. “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 the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
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.
— Shah Faesal (@shahfaesal) September 17, 2025
In that low moment, I resolved… https://t.co/fwIFJ11C6h
During this challenging phase, Faesal questioned if his identity as a Kashmiri Muslim would prevent him from regaining his position in public service. However, the opportunity to return came sooner than he expected.
A Second Chance from a ‘True Visionary’
Faesal described the Prime Minister’s decision to reinstate him as an act of exceptional empathy and understanding. “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.
He promised to share the full story someday but chose to mark the occasion of Modi’s birthday with this poignant tribute: “Many happy returns of the day to the man who transformed a billion lives – Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.”
Shah Faesal: A Trailblazing Career Marked by Courage
A doctor-turned-bureaucrat, Shah Faesal made history by becoming the first Kashmiri to top the civil services exam in 2010. Initially part of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, he was later moved to the AGMUT cadre following the revocation of Article 370.
In January 2019, Faesal resigned from the IAS, protesting against what he described as “unabated killings” in Kashmir and the marginalization of Indian Muslims. He ventured into politics by launching the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM), but stepped away from politics in August 2020.
His activism led to his detention under the Public Safety Act in February 2020 due to his critical posts about the central government. After nearly a year in detention, he returned to public life and was reinstated into the IAS in April 2022. By August that year, Faesal was appointed Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, expressing excitement about “starting all over again.”
Nationwide Tributes for Modi’s 75th Birthday
Shah Faesal was among many politicians, business leaders, and bureaucrats who paid tribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 75th birthday, celebrated on September 17th. Born in Vadnagar, Gujarat in 1950, Modi’s journey from a humble background to the helm of India’s government has been widely acknowledged as transformative.
