Key Takeaways
- Er Rashid leads a protest in Srinagar demanding the restoration of the Darbar move, a bi-annual shift of the secretariat and government offices.
- The Lieutenant Governor-led administration discontinued the Darbar move in June 2021, citing high costs.
- Er Rashid threatens to take to the streets again if the Darbar move is not restored within a month.
Srinagar: Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) Chairman and Member Parliament (MP) Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, along with his supporters took to streets in Srinagar on Friday demanding restoration of the by-annual “Darbar move” in Jammu and Kashmir.
Led by Engineer Rashid, the protestors shouting slogans marched towards the civil secretariat in Srinagar demanding immediate restoration of the bi-annual “Darbar move”, the official seat of the government from Srinagar to Jammu during the winters and from Jammu to Srinagar during the Summer season.
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 (Srinagar) to another (Jammu) bi-annually, which operated from 1872 till 2021. However, the Lieutenant Governor led administration disbanded the practice in June 2021 stating that it costs more than Rs 200 Crore on the state exchequer yearly.
Rashid addressed the protestors, saying their voice should reach the Prime Minister, Home Minister, and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister. He emphasized that the Darbar move is not just a matter of a few crores but a cultural integration between the people of Jammu and Kashmir’s two regions.
Rashid said the people of Jammu and Kashmir do not know which their capital city is.
“They snatched state, article 370, 35A and our identity from us”, Rashid said adding “don’t make Jammu and Kashmir an experimental lab for your dirty politics”.
He said either declares Srinagar as the permanent capital of Jammu and Kashmir or restore the traditional Darbar move.
Rashid threatened that his party would come to the streets if the Darbar move was not restored within one month.
