Shah Faisal on Civil Services : "Make it a mission and never take it as a job"

All India topper at UPSC civil services exam Dr Shah Faisal said that the Muslims in India should not worry about what others say of them. Instead, they should work on their own for the upliftment of the community.

 

"There is no reason to get upset if someone doubts your Indianness because you are a Muslim. There is no need for a certificate from anybody that you are an Indian", Faisal, who hails from Kashmir, said at a felicitation function held at Anujman Islam in Mumbai last night.

 

The function was organized by the Federation of Minorities and supported by host of other Muslim NGOs. Faisal, who did his MBBS from Srinagars Sher-i-Kashmir Medical College is the first Kashmiri to top this examination. "Practise any religion in your home or society but outside, do not ever forget that you are an Indian and learn to respect people from other religions," he added.

 

He also reiterated his appeal to Muslim students to chose Civil Services as mission. "Muslim candidates should opt for civil services not as a job but as a mission",

 

Encouraging the gathering to accept the challenges, he said that Muslims instead of waiting for anyone, should work for their empowerment themselves. "No one will come to help you. It is you who need to stand up for the upliftment of the community", Faisal said. "In pursuit of your goal, you will find people who will trouble you because you belong to a particular religion, caste, region but if you have the capability, then nobody can stop you from overcoming these hurdles and reach your goal", Faisal added.

 

He attributed his success to the provision of equality for all enshrined in the Indian constitution. "Indian constitution provides for giving equal rights to everyone irrespective of caste, religion, region and my success in the UPSC exam is a result of that,"

Stating that there was no better country than India, Faisal said, "We create controversies over pity things like caste, religion, region and language."     

From a report in Ummid.com More Here

"Nothing can match the post of a district collector", says M Abubacker Siddique

"I've broken the jinx" exulted Shah Faesal. One of the main reasons for this jinx is that Muslims do not appear in sufficient numbers for these examinations. Explaining why, Dr Syed Hamid says: “Apart from the small middle class, most other Muslims live in bastis where the din and dust would never let a student study in equanimity. Segregation has become so acute that I don’t see things changing very soon.”

But not everyone believes there is reason to despair. M. Abubacker Siddique, for one, is a delighted man today. Back in 1994, this HSC alumnus achieved the brilliant feat of securing the 2nd rank in the UPSC examinations, setting a record that has only now been broken by Faesal. The IAS officer, who is now the private secretary to Union home minister P. Chidambaram, says, “Finally someone has broken the record!” Giving a glimpse of the strong bonds that exist between the institute and its alumni, he says, “I still go back to HSC, and I was on a mock board that interviewed Shah Faesal. Faesal and I, we are the absolute evidence to show that the system is fair.”

As Siddique sees it, low recruitment of Muslims into the civil services is a matter of perception: “Any community needs to know that there is a good chance of getting through and doing well. Once you can see that happen, your numbers will start rising.” Creating more Siddiques and Faesals is clearly vital to changing perceptions, and in order to do so, Siddique says, HSC needs to widen the pool. He says that it should actually move away from the rigorous process of putting applicants through tests and introduce a canvassing system to find bright students and motivate them into giving the UPSC exams a shot. In order to do so, Siddique believes, what needs to be stressed is not the power echelons of New Delhi, but the power they will have to change things at the grassroots. “As an IAS officer, no post can give you more satisfaction than that of a district collector. You get to see things as they happen, and you get to intervene. Nothing can match that.”

From an article by Shreevatsa Nivetia on Hamdard Study Circle in Outlook. More than 165 Muslims have made it to Civil services through Hamdard Study Circle.

To Read More click here.
Read the success story of Shah Faisal and Mariam Farzhana Sadiq here and here

Shah Faisal : "Iam humbled. I had faith in hard work and Allah's grace"

Shah Faisal, 27, says he owes his success to his well-knit middle class family from Kupwara — his 47-year-old mother Mubeenaji, a younger brother and a young sister — and to divine blessings.
Talking to IANS on telephone from New Delhi, Faisal said: "I am humbled. I had faith in my hard work, Allah's grace and the blessings of my family.
"My mother, brother and sister equally share the honour as they supported me like a rock when I decided to sit for the most coveted exams in the country."
Faisal cleared the examination in his very first attempt. "I am very happy and want to serve the people of the country. I want to set an example by providing corruption-free administration to the people."
As a doctor he says he is in a noble profession. "But my people need me as a civil servant. I want to be a role model for Kashmiri youth."
His mother is overjoyed. "I cannot fully express my joy though I knew Faisal had the capability to do it. It is entirely Allah's grace," said Mubeenaji.
Do you think this is a turning point for the troubled Jammu and Kashmir? Will Faesal be successful in becoming a role model for others? 

From IANS report Kashmiri doctor who tops IAS exam wants to be role model

in Gulf News

To read the full report click here.

"I have broken the jinx!", exults Shah Faisal

 Dr Shah Faisal

“There was nothing in my background that would make anybody think I can achieve this,” a jubilant Faisal, who had been hoping to be among the top 50, said today. “But I did it. So can thousands of other students with similar difficult backgrounds.”

“It is not only my own success,” he adds. “I feel I have broken the jinx that Kashmiri students cannot reach the top. I am the first from J&K to top this examination and I am sure my story will become a model for our students who fear to dream big. I am an orphan with a scarred childhood. There was a tragedy in my family, my father was killed. I was raised by my mother who is a schoolteacher. I belong to a far-flung village in Lolab and I studied in a government school.” Faisal says he was motivated by the idea of “doing more than what forms success in Kashmir”. The civil services examination is not something Kashmiri students generally opt for. “So I thought to make an attempt...” 

What the family had no doubts about was Faisal’s determination to become an IAS officer and to do something for the state. “He always wanted to do something big. Even after qualifying for MBBS, he didn’t seem satisfied. It was his passion to qualify for the civil services exam. He would store photographs of Kashmiri IAS officers in his cellphone,” Mubeena says. 

From Muzammil Jameel's inspiring write-up in Indian Express

To read the full article click here.

 Shah Faisal with Syed Hamid Photo courtesy: Two circles.net

According to Zahid Muhammad, Faesal was among one of very few Kashmiris who made it to the Indian civil services.

“There may have been hardly three or four Kashmiris to join the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the last couple of decades. The last Kashmiri success in the civil services examinations was in 1984-1985. Faesal’s success is coming after a gap of almost 25 years,” he noted.

Hamid now is secretary of the New Delhi-based Hamdard Education Society, which runs the Hamdard Study Circle. It was there that Faesal received his coaching. Hamid was absolutely thrilled by his student’s success.
“The Hamdard Study Circle has been in operation since 1991, and we have had many successes in the past. More than 220 students have qualified from our institute. The best result was when one of our students secured fourth place at the All-India level,” he said.

From  Siraj Wahab's piece in Arab News

To read the full story click here

Read Shah Faisal became the first Muslim to stand first in the civil Services Main Examinations

Read the report in Two circles.net and listen to Dr Shah Faisal here