Shah Faesal will not be appointed advisor to Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor, govt sources confirm

Bureaucrat-turned politician Shah Faesal was reportedly set to be appointed as an advisor to Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir Manoj Sinha, according to initial media reports. The news of the proposed appointment came after Shah Faesal converted from being a virulent anti-BJP critic to a vocal advocate for Narendra Modi’s brand of governance.

However, sources within the Government have confirmed to OpIndia that Faesal will not be appointed an advisor to Manoj Sinha. Various news organisations such as Republic, CNN News18 and journalists associated with India Today had made the claim. However, OpIndia reached out to government sources who confirmed to us that the news is untrue.

https://twitter.com/ashraf_wani/status/1446764912307425281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

After the initial media reports, journalists had also said that it was fake news.

https://twitter.com/TejinderSsodhi/status/1446780237442785285?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

According to journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, Shah Faesal has himself denied it.

https://twitter.com/AdityaRajKaul/status/1446781861204684800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Shah Faesal had in 2020 stepped down as the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM), a political party he had founded with comrade Shehla Rashid. Since then, his future has been the subject of much speculation, with many believing that he could return to the administrative services.

More recently, he has been trolled by Islamists for praising Narendra Modi. Applauding the Prime Minister’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ in January, Faesal had said, “It is like 1.3 Billion people coming together as a family on a Sunday morning and each one being heard and spoken to, each one feeling counted.” He further added, “My take away from this program: Communication can build solidarities and make a nation ‘sound’ like a family.”

A week earlier, Shah Faesal had praised the Prime Minister’s vaccine diplomacy. He had said, “This is more than just a vaccination program. It’s good governance + human capital formation + nation-building + India assuming global leadership as a Jagat Guru (The Guru of the World).”

Islamists had accused him of backstabbing Kashmiris and accused him of ‘bootlicking’. They had also call him ‘Sanghi’ and showered him with a torrent of other abuses.

Note: The report has been updated with relevant information.