Disturbed by ‘violation’ of fundamental rights of Kashmiris, Kerala IAS officer quits job

Kannan Gopinathan, a 2012-batch IAS officer from Kerala has quit his job, citing the “violation of fundamental rights” of people in Jammu and Kashmir after the scrapping of the state’s special status as the main trigger. Gopinathan said that he took the decision to quit the job because he has his own conscience to answer to.

"If you ask me what you were doing, when one of the world’s largest democracies announced a ban on the entire state, and even violated the fundamental rights of the people, I should at least be able to reply that I resigned my job," The Indian Express quoted him as saying.

Gopinathan said that for him, abrogation of Article 370 is not the issue but violating the rights of lakhs of people of Jammu and Kashmir is. "Article 370 or its abrogation is not the issue, but denying citizens their right to respond to it, is the main issue. They could welcome the move or protest it, that's their right," he told a private news channel called NDTV.

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Referring to the Centre’s highly controversial move to detain former civil servant and Kashmir politician Shah Faesal at Delhi airport, the 33-year-old Indian Administrative Service officer said: "Even when a former IAS officer was detained from the airport, there was a complete lack of response from civil society. It seems like most in this country are okay with this."

Gopinathan was posted in Dadra and Nagar Haveli (DNH) and held the post of secretary of key departments like power and non-conventional energy sources in the administration. He made headlines last year for carrying out relief works during the devastating floods in his home-state Kerala.

Carrying sacks of relief material at his back, the IAS officer had volunteered in the relief works like a common man without revealing his real identity. He, however, made the headlines on TV channels and news websites after one of his fellow officers revealed his real identity.