NVI Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct 25 (NVI) : Member of Parliament Sheikh Rashid staged a peaceful protest in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, advocating for the restoration of the Darbar Move, a 149-year-old tradition where government offices shift between Srinagar, the summer capital, and Jammu, the winter capital, which was abolished in 2021.
According to NVI Correspondent, the Baramulla Lok Sabha MP and Awami Ittehad Party chief held a protest outside the civil secretariat in Srinagar, demanding the restoration of the Darbar Move.
“The government should restore the Darbar Move or clarify whether it will operate from Srinagar or Jammu permanently. There shouldn’t be confusion over it,” he said during the protest.
“We used to have two capitals—Jammu in winter and Srinagar in summer. Now, neither city holds that status. We’re protesting to remind Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of his promise to resolve this issue. People don’t know where to go, whether their file is in Jammu or Kashmir. We demand either the restoration of the Darbar Move or that Srinagar be made the permanent capital. The solution would be to declare Srinagar as the capital,” he said while speaking to reporters.
The Darbar Move was the name given to the bi-annual shift of the secretariat and all other government offices of Jammu and Kashmir from one capital city to another, operating from 1872 until 2021.
The Darbar Move was first suspended in 2020 when the UT administration cited the pandemic. On June 20, 2021, J&K L-G Manoj Sinha announced that the administration had transitioned to e-office, thus abolishing the bi-annual secretariat move.—(News Vibes of India)
