Shah Faesal, who had resigned last month as an IAS officer in protest of the “unabated” killings in Kashmir, was being interviewed in his hotel room by a TV channel on Saturday, February 16, when hotel staff allegedly interfered and put an end to the interview.
Speaking to Punya Prasoon Bajpayee in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, Faesal had said that 2018 was the bloodiest year for Kashmir in a decade, adding that when he was still part of the Indian Administrative Service, he saw the crisis develop and how the government failed to take any measures to stop it. “Little by little, Kashmir turned into a warzone,” Faesal said.
The interview, however, was cut short by security staff at the Samrat Hotel in Chanakyapuri, Delhi, where Shah Faesal was residing. The Surya Samachar channel reporter said that despite the crew taking all necessary permissions to conduct the session, the hotel’s general manager pressured them into stopping the interview.
The reporter claimed that the hotel management’s behaviour changed completely when the latter realised that it was Faesal who was being interviewed. The management allegedly said that the situation is “very sensitive” and thus Faesal should not be interviewed.
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Bajpayee ended the segment asking why a citizen of India isn’t allowed to speak to a national TV channel and if the instructions for the obstruction came from somewhere else.
Before being cut short, Faesal had said that he resigned from his post to make sure everyone saw what the crisis in Kashmir is like. He explained that the biggest problem is that of “understanding”. According to Faesal, the situation in Kashmir has somehow turned into a “war” between the soldiers and the “stone-pelters”. But that’s the real problem, he said, adding that there is a political vacuum in Kashmir and within this vacuum, violence becomes the only means of expression. He said that unless Delhi understands that Kashmir needs proper political machinery, nothing would be solved.
Faesal, who became the first Kashmiri to top the IAS exam in 2009, had resigned last month protesting the “unabated” killings in Kashmir and the marginalisation of Indian Muslims.
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