Srinagar, Feb 18: First Kashmiri to top the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 2010, Shah Faesal Monday said secret execution of Afzal Guru at Tihar Jail in New Delhi has hurt Kashmiri youth and has added to their alienation.
 Faesal, who became a youth icon after topping the IAS in 2010, believes that the situation in Kashmir has again arrived at an edge after Afzal’s hanging as it brewed the anger among the local youth.
 “People in Kashmir including large number of youth expressed their anger by various means and ways of communication following the development. It clearly indicates that they connect Afzal’s secret hanging with the bigger narrative of denial of justice and dignity to them,” he told Greater Kashmir.
 Soon after government restored the internet services in the Valley after one week’s clampdown, Faesal took to social networking Facebook and expressed his emotions stating that “Kashmir can be conquered not through arms but through the power of the virtuous deeds. Residents of that place are scared of only heaven/hell and not of the armed men.” It is a verse from Kashmir Historic Chronicle, Kalhana’s Rajtarangini.
 Faesal said restriction and unnecessary curbs on the freedom of expression on online forums add fuel to the fire. “The curbs put on them have impaired their minds and add to isolation among them,” he said.
 Faesal who is working as an Assistant Commissioner, Revenue in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district said that government’s “dual policy” had surfaced by the secret execution.
 “Afzal Guru’s hanging was carried out without informing his family. It is absolutely condemnable and against the human values,” Faesal said, adding that such operation is intolerable as “It can’t go well in the nation where Right to Life and Right to Know stands supreme”.
 He also opposed the “capital punishment” as “inhumane” in the democratic setup.
 When he topped IAS in 2010, it shaped the new aspirations among the youth aspiring to take a leap in the professional and economic field. Faesal had also hoped that his success would remove the apprehensions among people about the discrimination.
 But three years down the line, Faesal said the feelings of that they are being ignored and denied justice have enlarged. “After my success the otherwise discriminated youth started looking up to it but the decisions like the recent execution of Guru changed their mindset,” he added.
 Faesal suggested that the people in politics should come forward to engage people in debates and discussions to make the situation favourable.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 18 Feb 2013 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 IST