Partial Darbar Move

The date fixed for the formal reopening of ‘Darbar Move’ offices in Srinagar is July 6, a delay of almost two months against the normal schedule. The holdup has been attributed by the government to a peculiar situation thrown by the novel coronavirus. The situation, as per the government, has also prompted the administration to keep the civil secretariat open in Jammu for summer and the employees from the region would continue to work “as is where is basis”. In other words, the biannual “Darbar Move”, the shifting of the administrative machinery from Jammu to Srinagar, will not take place completely, the first time in almost 150 years.
The government had earlier accorded sanction for the formal opening of offices for the summer session in Srinagar from May 4. The announcement was made in the backdrop of speculations that the administration was planning to do away with the century-old practice that costs the J&K exchequer huge money annually. Later, as the virus raged, employees from Kashmir moved towards Kashmir and the offices opened here even though not formally.
The practice dates back to 1892 and allows the rulers to escape the Kashmir chill and extremes of summer heat in Jammu.
There have always been voices, both from Jammu as well as Kashmir that the practice needs to end.
History bears testimony to the fact during the time the Durbar is at one of the capitals, the other one gets neglected in many ways.  It is a fact that the continuance of the practice has resulted in some social and economic integration, despite the communal fringe elements always profiting from public discontent and disorder. The two regions have become dependent on each other and one would want it not to be disturbed.
The government’s decision to defer the formal reopening of the Darbar Move in Srinagar till July 6 seems to be a measure aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus and if the underlining reasons is really to be so, it cannot be faulted with. The government has not answered why it was safe for Kashmiri employees to move to Srinagar and not those based in Jammu. Without getting into controversy, the government must keep the practice going and leave the decision to the elected government. For the time being, the government’s assurance that “the arrangement is due to the peculiar situation for this year only” is assuring.