Valley IAS topper asked to explain ‘rapistan’ tweet

SHAH FAESAL HAD TWEETED “PATRIARCHY +POPULATION +ILLITERACY+ALCOHOL +PORN+TECHNOLOGY +ANARCHY = RAPISTAN!,” ON A STORY OF A MAN RAPING HIS MOTHER”

SRINAGAR: An Indian Administrative Services officer from Kashmir who topped the coveted civil services exam in 2010 said on Friday that the government has issued him a show-cause notice over an April tweet commenting on a story of a man raping his mother.

“Love letter from my boss for my sarcastic tweet against rapeculture in South Asia,” Shah Faesal wrote while sharing on Facebook and Twitter an official letter from the general administration department of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The letter says the central government’s department of personnel and training has asked for action to be initiated against Faesal over his tweets. It also enclosed screenshots of the tweet which allegedly violated service rules.

“Patriarchy+Population+Illiteracy+Alcohol+Porn+Technology+Anarchy = Rapistan!,” Faesal had tweeted in April over a story titled “Porn addict rapes 46 year old mom, arrested in Gujarat”. “..You have allegedly failed to maintain honesty and integrity in discharge of your official duty and thus acted in a manner unbecoming of a public servant. Now therefore, you are asked to explain your position within a period of 15 days positively after receipt of this communication, failing which the action as warranted under rules shall follow,” the notice issued on Tuesday said.

“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 tweeted on Friday.

Faesal, from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, was the first person from the state to top the IAS exam in 2010 and is a household name across the state. He is currently on leave while taking a course at Harvard University.