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Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned in 2019 protesting the abrogation of Article 370, joined the Congress party on October 13, Monday. He was welcomed into the party by Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and senior leader Pawan Khera at an event held in New Delhi.
After joining the party, Kannan Gopinathan said he found clarity on the country’s political direction through his interactions with people across districts. “When I resigned, I knew that the direction in which the government was taking this country was not the right one. It was wrong — that was clear. But I wanted to understand what the alternative was. So, I travelled across many districts, spoke to people and leaders. That’s when I realised that the Congress Party can lead this country in the direction I believe it should go,” he said addressing the media.
The former IAS officer said that citizens must reclaim their right to question authority. “We have become citizens, not subjects. Subjects cannot ask questions — and if they do, they are branded as anti-national,” he said. “Those who question, even at personal cost, are the true nationalists. The real anti-nationals are the ones who stay silent despite knowing that the country is heading in the wrong direction.”
Kannan Gopinathan, who served as an IAS officer of the 2012 batch from the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, came into national prominence when he resigned from service as a mark of protest over the communication blockade and restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. Since then, he has been a vocal critic of government policies on issues such as Kashmir, human rights, and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He actively participated in protests against the CAA and was detained several times in cities including Mumbai, Agra, and Prayagraj to prevent him from addressing gatherings.
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government directed Gopinathan to resume duty, but he declined, saying he was willing to volunteer for relief work but not rejoin the civil service. Following this, an FIR was registered against him under the Disaster Management Act, the Epidemic Diseases Act, and the Indian Penal Code. The government also initiated disciplinary proceedings against him for allegedly violating service rules.