Shah Faesel's 'Rapistan' tweet irks DoPT, GAD initiates action

TNN Bureau. Updated: 7/11/2018 1:20:54 PM Front Page

SRINAGAR: The state government has initiated disciplinary action against 2010-batch IAS exam topper Shah Faesal for his tweet about frequent rapes which was seen by the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training as his failure to maintain absolute honesty and integrity in discharge of duties.

In a notice to Faesal, the General Administration Department said, "You have allegedly failed to maintain absolute honesty and integrity in the discharge of official duty and thus acted in a manner unbecoming of a public servant."

The GAD initiated the disciplinary proceedings at the request of the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training, the notice sent by Commissioner Secretary, GAD said.

"The department of personnel and training, Government of India, has forwarded a copy of communication along with its enclosures, in which several references have been made by you in which contents are prima facie in contravention of the extant provisions of all India services (service rules)," GAD notice read.

Faesal had posted a tweet saying, "Population +patriarchy +illiteracy +alcohol +porn +technology +anarchy = rapistan", which drew the ire of the DoPT.

The IAS officer, who is currently pursuing a mid-career masters programme in the US, brushed aside the notice. "Love letter from my boss for my sarcastic tweet against rape-culture in South Asia. The Irony here is that service rules with a colonial spirit are invoked in a democratic India to stifle the freedom of conscience." "I'm sharing this to underscore the need for a rule change," Faesal wrote on his twitter handle while posting the copy of the notice with it. "It's nothing but bureaucratic over-enthusiasm. These are people who are used to the most primitive interpretation of the service rules, people who don't understand the spirit of times we are living in," a national newspaper quoted Faesal saying. "I don't think this warrants any action. Rape is not part of government policy that criticism of rape would mean criticism of government policy and invite action. If it's so then I plead guilty," he told the newspaper. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah commenting on the issue said the DoPT seemed to be determined to chase Faesal out of civil service.

"Looks like the DOPT is determined to chase @shahfaesal out of the civil services. The last line of this page is shocking & unacceptable where they question Faesal's integrity & honesty . How is a sarcastic tweet dishonest? How does it make him corrupt?" he asked in a tweet. Shah Faesal has been voicing his opinion on the social media platform and he has been of the opinion that the rules prohibiting voicing of opinion on societal and governmental issues on social media by civil servants in India are monarchical and, therefore, need to be revisited immediately.


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