Jammu, Sep 20: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said his party will resume the practice of ‘Dabar' move or biannual shifting of the secretariat between Jammu and Srinagar if it is voted to power,.
Abdullah was in Udhampur to address an election rally. Addressing mediapersons ahead of the rally, Abdullah said, “Darbar move was an old practice which was started by the Dogra Maharajas. They knew about J&K, due to which this practice was started. If our government comes to the power, the first thing I will do is to resume the practice of Darbar move. Its discontinuation has harmed both the regions of Kashmir and Jammu.”
Abdullah said that the practice was not just administrative but also cultivated relations between people of both the regions of the erstwhile state. He said that his party will also work for the restoration of Article 370.
Attacking the BJP-led Central government, Farooq Abdullah said while the party claims of bringing development to Jammu region in form of IITs, AIIMS and other institutions, “there are no locals working in these institutions”.
“BJP should explain what it has done for Jammu as locals are neither getting jobs nor are they getting contracts and other benefits. They are instead losing their land to outsiders,” said Farooq.
He also claimed that the terrorists released after the hijack of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 are the reason behind increased terror activities in Jammu region. “I had asked the then government not to release these terrorists but no one listened to me. Those terrorists who were released at that time are the reason behind insurgency in Jammu division,” Farooq claimed.
He said that without NC, Kashmir would have gone to Pakistan. “We chose the path of Gandhi because it was a secular India. The BJP is spreading hatred against communities in the same country,” he said.
Asked about his reaction to the ‘one nation, one election' plan of the BJP-led government, he said that will not run in the country.
“When it (one nation, one election) will be debated in Parliament, you will listen. I want to know if a government collapses in any part of the country, will it come under president's rule till the next election.
“How will it work? Let them make us understand in Parliament what they mean by this. How will they maintain the federal structure?” he said.
Moving ahead with its ‘one nation, one election' plan, the Union government on Wednesday accepted a high-level panel's recommendations for holding simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise.
Asked about the BJP's claim of forming the next government in J&K, he said, “They are building castles in the air.” “First, let us see who sweeps the elections… Have they won the hearts of the people of Jammu?” he said, asking what they have done for Jammu.
Old practice
Darbar move was an old practice which was started by the Dogra Maharajas. If our government comes to power, the first thing I will do is resume the practice of Darbar move. Its discontinuation has harmed both the regions —Kashmir and Jammu. Farooq Abdullah, NC president
