This story was published as part of Outlook Magazine's 'Future Tense' issue, dated October 11, 2024. To read more stories from the Issue, click here .
Ved Prakash Gupta, 85, set up his cloth shop in City Chowk in the heart of Jammu in 1965. His business has always flourished, thanks to the strategic location of the shop바카라just a kilometre away from the Civil Secretariat in Jammu, which until 2021 used to serve as the winter capital. The tradition of the bi-annual shift of the secretariat and all other government offices between Jammu and Srinagar바카라the summer capital바카라was termed as the Durbar Move. The practice바카라initiated by Maharaja Ranbir Singh바카라lasted from 1872바카라until 2021, when it was abolished by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha due to the pandemic. It was decided to keep both the capitals functional. After all, the cost of shifting between two cities was humongous.
The move dealt a blow to the businesses established around the Secretariat. Due to the presence of the 바카라durbar바카라 and the regular movement of Kashmiri families, that used to stay in town for six months, everyone was making profits. But now things seem to have changed for the business community in Jammu. People, in fact, claim that the end of Durbar Move has impacted them more than the Abrogation of Article 370.
In this assembly elections, political parties have been promising to restore the Durbar Move.
The state of dwindling businesses could be seen as one takes a stroll across the deserted Raghunath Bazaar. Mukesh Gupta, 50, the owner of the Gupta Cloth House, says: 바카라Until 2021, we barely had a moment to relax during business hours. We often had no time to eat lunch. The rush of customers was sometimes completely unmanageable, draining us by evening. Today, we sit idle the whole day. It has impacted our bank balance, and we are forced to borrow money.바카라 He feels the Durbar Move served as a bridge uniting Kashmir and Jammu. 바카라It helped weave together two distinct cultures, fostering a spirit of brotherhood that echoed through the Valley and the Jammu city,바카라 he says.
Next door, Shiv Arora, a trader at Sunder Pharmacy, that sells Ayurveda and Unani medicines, says he has lost his entire clientele. 바카라Raghunath Bazaar바카라once a thriving marketplace and a lifeline of Jammu is struggling to survive,바카라 says Manu Srivastav, a senior journalist.
바카라There were two big issues this election바카라the restoration of statehood and the reinstatement of Durbar Move,바카라 says Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, a Jammu-based lawyer.
In the mid-eighties, when the Farooq Abdullah government abolished the 바카라Durbar Move, Jammu witnessed large-scale agitations, leading to the restoration of the practice.
바카라A sizable section of the business community has been adversely hit by the decision. We have promised to restore it as well as to bring back Article 370. Drug abuse is also a major issue here,바카라 says Ajay Sadotra, the NC candidate from Jammu (North). For Aditya Gupta, a PDP candidate from Jammu (East), the premise of him fighting the elections is based on a single issue바카라the restoration of 바카라Durbar Move Ki Virasat바카라.
Businesses have also suffered a blow due to the railway connectivity having been extended to Katra바카라at the foothill of the pilgrim hub of Vaishno Devi. Now, not many tourists stop at Jammu to shop for dry fruits, handicrafts, basmati rice, walnuts, almonds, safrron and rajma.
바카라There were two big issues this election바카라restoration of statehood, reinstatement of Durbar Move바카라
This has impacted the hotel business as well. 바카라This year, the Valley was full of tourists, but Jammu was deserted,바카라 says Ahmed, the Jammu-based lawyer.
The recent surge in terror attacks in the Jammu region has also had an adverse impact.
바카라Following measures taken to combat militancy in Kashmir and curb infiltration along the borders and the Line of Control, Pakistan has tried to cultivate a climate of fear in the Jammu region. However, the high voter turnout in recent elections serves as a strong testament to the resilience and determination of the people in Jammu against such intimidation,바카라 says Vikas Padha, an orthographic surgeon and social media influencer. He favours the restoration of the statehood to Jammu to meet regional aspirations of the people, who, he believes, have received a raw deal in terms of development, employment and investments.
People feel that Jammu has deliberately been kept out of the narrative. 바카라The scrapping of Article 370 has also not changed much. Rather, our share of jobs has gone to outsiders,바카라 says Ahmed. Lands are being sold to non-domicile people, and big business players are hijacking all contracts, he adds.
Padha informs how all the five universities in Jammu currently don바카라t have a Dogra Vice-Chancellor. He coins a term바카라Jammu blindness바카라to describe the present situation. He feels this election has largely been about Jammu versus Kashmir. Both Ahmed and Padha predict a hung assembly.
The BJP holds a strong base in Jammu바카라evident from the 2014 elections when the party won 25 seats (of the total 87 seats). It also won both parliamentary seats바카라Jammu and Udhampur, in 2019 and 2024 respectively. The party has promised to restore statehood, guaranteed jobs and pushed for mega development projects like railway expansion, four-lane projects and the promotion of tourism. The rivals of the party, however, claim that despite the mandate, the party has betrayed the sentiments of the people.
바카라Most government jobs and all the important positions have gone to outsiders. People had to protest to get an AIIMS and a central university. Liquor policy was tweaked to favour a few people. Paper leaks and recruitment are overshadowed by corruption,바카라 alleges Ajay Sadotra, an NC-Congress alliance candidate.
The BJP is emerging as a favourite, but will the next chief minister be from Jammu? 바카라This is the most aspirational factor of this election,바카라 says a Jammu-based writer, Bharat Bhushan Sharma.
West Pakistan refugees living in Jammu for the past 77 years, after the 1947 partition, have always felt like outsiders. But now they have been made citizens of India and given voting rights. This was the first time when they vote in the assembly elections.
바카라PM Modi restored our dignity, gave us voting rights and access to central government schemes and even provided ration cards. Why shouldn바카라t we reciprocate his gesture?바카라 asks Bansi Lal Sharma, a pharma lab owner, predicting a win for the BJP. He believes that the party will restore statehood.
The fate of displaced Kashmiri Pandits is also an issue that continues to make headlines. Staying in camps and colonies, many are struggling. One can understand their plight after visiting a camp in Nagrota where they have been living for decades.
Reena Razdan, a Kashmiri migrant, questions the government at the Centre and the state for forgetting Kashmiri pandits. 바카라We used to live in bungalows and had land and assets in Kashmir. See how we live in two-room flats with leaking roofs. We get contaminated water. We struggle for medical facilities and transport. It바카라s difficult to survive in these small quarters which are allotted on a lease and not on a permanent basis,바카라 she explains.
A combination of local grievances, the demand for statehood, and a feeling of marginalisation has shaped the mood of disenchantment among the people of Jammu.
바카라People in Jammu are angry with the BJP but have not been able to find alternative to the saffron party. The Congress has been a disappointment, and the NC is struggling to recover its base in Kashmir. Also, the Jammu region has had a history of adopting a different political path vis-a-vis the Valley in the electoral space,바카라 explains a senior journalist while giving a sense of the mood in Jammu.
(This appeared in the print as 'Who Moved My Durbar?')
