The Darbar tradition has also become an election issue in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Restoration of Article 370 and restoration of full statehood is also an issue. Omar Abdullah’s party has promised to restore the Darbar move system if the government is formed. Assembly elections after 10 years are being held in Jammu and Kashmir.
The National Conference has promised to restore the Darbar Move in its manifesto. At the same time, in the manifesto of Altaf Bukhari’s own party, there is mention of resuming this practice. The practice of ‘Darbar Move’ in Jammu and Kashmir is more than 150 years old, which was abolished in July 2021. Due to this practice, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir used to change during winter and summer.
When the capital was changed, all important government offices and secretariats were shifted from Jammu to Srinagar and from Srinagar to Jammu. With the arrival of winter, the capital was shifted from Srinagar to Jammu in the last week of October. With the arrival of summer, the capital was shifted from Jammu to Srinagar in the last week of April. This means that from May to October Srinagar was the capital and from November to April Jammu was the capital. This practice of changing the capital was called the ‘Darbar tradition’.
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In 1872 this practice of ‘Darbar Move’ was started. Jammu and Kashmir was then ruled by Dogra ruler Maharaja Ranbir Singh. The general belief is that due to weather it was decided to shift the Durbar from Jammu to Srinagar and from Srinagar to Jammu.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had called the Darbar system a waste of time, in May 2020. The government was asked to find a permanent solution. In June 2021, the government stopped this practice completely. Now the permanent capital of Jammu and Kashmir has become Srinagar. All government offices and secretariats are in Srinagar only.
Supporters of the Durbar system say that it maintained contact between Jammu and Srinagar. Development was taking place at both places. Last week, former CM and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said that if he comes to power, he will re-implement the Darbar system. This has also been promised in the party’s manifesto. This is the reason why a promise is being made to restart the Durbar system in Jammu to garner votes. Opposition parties are claiming that Jammu is suffering huge losses due to the end of this practice.
