Shah Faesal (born 17 May 1983) is an Indian bureaucrat currently posted as Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Culture (India) In 2010, he became the first Kashmiri to top the Indian Civil Services Examination. He tendered his resignation from the Indian bureaucracy in protest on 9 January 2019, citing "unabated killings" in Kashmir among other things, which, reportedly, was "never accepted" by the central government and he even withdrew the same later. On 4 February 2019, Shah Faesal began his momentary political life by giving a public speech in his hometown of Kupwara. Shortly after on 16 March 2019 he announced his own political party, the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM). He left politics on 10 August 2020 and quit the JKPM. He was reinstated in Indian Administrative Service in April 2022 by the Modi government. In August 2022, he was posted as Deputy Secretary in Union Ministry for Tourism. Early life and education Faesal Shah was born in the Sogam area of Lolab Valley, located in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. His father, Ghulam Rasool Shah, was a teacher who was killed by militants in 2002. Shah Faesal was 19 at the time. Not only was his father a teacher, but his mother, Mubeena Shah, as well as grandfather were teachers. He is a 2008 batch graduate of the Jhelum Valley Medical College. He holds an MBBS degree from Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar as well as has a master's degree in Urdu. He finished MBBS at 26 and left IAS at 35. In 2018, he was a recipient of the Fulbright-Fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School. Bureaucrat career Before cracking Civil Service exam, Faesal was the gold medalist at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, where he studied medicine. In 2009, he became the first Kashmiri to get first place in the UPSC civil services exam, which he also cleared on his first attempt. He was also the first candidate from Kashmir in several years to be selected to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) through open merit. He was the fourth Muslim (after Independence) to top the civil service exam. On 16 August 2012, Faisal was appointed as the assistant commissioner, revenue, of Pulwama district. He was transferred to the deputy commissioner of Bandipora district on 8 February 2014. He was transferred to the position of Director School Education, Kashmir, on 22 August