Kashmiri bureaucrat Shah Faesal, in a birthday post for PM Narendra Modi, wrote "He forgave, the way a priest-king might, measuring not pedigree but purpose." Faesal had resigned from the IAS, citing "unabated killings" in Kashmir and "marginalisation of Indian Muslims" and launched Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM) soon after. He was eventually restored to the IAS in 2022.