Contrary to what has been claimed both by the NC and the BJP leaderships about treading ahead in J&K by making ‘cooperation’ between the two the central point, the statements coming from the new Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on contentious issues of snatching away the special status of J&K in the shape of abrogating Article 370 and his criticism on ending the age-old tradition of ‘Darbar Move’ are enough to get the idea that the bonhomie between these political parties which are poles apart in ideologies will not last long.
It is pertinent to mention that NC leader from Pir Panjal region has asked difficult questions to the Centre-led by BJP that if Himachal Pradesh has the special status, and if Bihar is seeking the same then why Jammu and Kashmir’s right was snatched away? He made it clear that the UT is not asking for anything more than what it had possessed rightfully. Unlike earlier days, when the J&K was under LG Manoj Sinha’s administration, today there is a popular government in J&K elected by the people and therefore the Centre has to satiate such calls. This was not enough, as the NC leader, who defeated BJP UT chief in Assembly polls with a big margin before swearing in as Deputy Chief Minister has also raised another issue vociferously. He reportedly has stood for bringing back the tradition of Darbar Move, which according to him was a lifeline for the economy of both the regions especially Jammu.
On June 30, 2021, the 149-year-old tradition of the ‘Darbar Move’ in Jammu & Kashmir came to an end. This biannual practice involved the government operating from the two capitals, Srinagar and Jammu, for six months each. Approximately 8,000 to 9,000 employees from the Civil Secretariats, based in both cities, would relocate along with official files twice a year.
It is pertinent to mention that from time to time the business communities belonging to both Jammu and the Kashmir divisions have resented the idea to end this practice because there is not an iota of doubt in the fact that Darbar Move used to brought good fortune for the community as people used to visit both the capital cities along with the Darbar and helped the economies of these cities to boost manifold times.
The practice was stopped on the pretext of being a source of wastage of money and resources besides the digital revolution in J&K eliminated the need of transfer of plethora of files biannually as all the official work today is mouse’s click away.
