Bhubaneswar : The young Union Territory (UT) -cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Kannan Gopinathan (32), who quit civil service said freedom of expression is foremost and suspension of fundamental rights in a state is one of the reasons behind his decision.
“It is my personal decision. I want my voice back. I joined the service so that I can give a voice to others. But, now I am not in a position to air my voice freely. I want to come out of this and act according to my conscience,” he said as quoted by English daily the Hindustan Times.
Hailing from Kerala, the 2012 batch IAS officer had hit the headlines last year after he was noticed working in a relief camp in Kerala discreetly.
“Freedom of expression is supreme. I am perturbed over the suspension of fundamental rights in one of the states. At least 19 days passed since this was enforced. Response to this is also muted. If you ask me, yes this is one of the reasons behind my decision,” he said, without mentioning about the clampdown on communication in Jammu and Kashmir.