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 shop—just 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 Srinagar—the summer capital—was termed as the Durbar Move. The practice—initiated by Maharaja Ranbir Singh—lasted from 1872—until 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 ‘durbar’ 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: “Until 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.” He feels the Durbar Move served as a bridge uniting Kashmir and Jammu. “It helped weave together two distinct cultures, fostering a spirit of brotherhood that echoed through the Valley and the Jammu city,” he says.
Next door, Shiv Arora, a trader at Sunder Pharmacy, that sells Ayurveda and Unani medicines, says he has lost his entire clientele. “Raghunath Bazaar—once a thriving marketplace and a lifeline of Jammu is struggling to survive,” says Manu Srivastav, a senior journalist.
“There were two big issues this election—the restoration of statehood and the reinstatement of Durbar Move,” says Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, a Jammu-based lawyer.
In the mid-eighties, when the Farooq Abdullah government abolished the ‘Durbar Move, Jammu witnessed large-scale agitations, leading to the restoration of the practice.
“A 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,” 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 issue—the restoration of “Durbar Move Ki Virasat”.
Businesses have also suffered a blow due to the railway connectivity having been extended to Katra—at 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.
“There were two big issues this election—restoration of statehood, reinstatement of Durbar Move”
This has impacted the hotel business as well. “This year, the Valley was full of tourists, but Jammu was deserted,” says Ahmed, the Jammu-based lawyer.
The recent surge in terror attacks in the Jammu region has also had an adverse impact.
“Following 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,” 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. “The scrapping of Article 370 has also not changed much. Rather, our share of jobs has gone to outsiders,” 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 don’t have a Dogra Vice-Chancellor. He coins a term—Jammu blindness—to 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 Jammu—evident from the 2014 elections when the party won 25 seats (of the total 87 seats). It also won both parliamentary seats—Jammu 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.
“Most 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,” alleges Ajay Sadotra, an NC-Congress alliance candidate.
The BJP is emerging as a favourite, but will the next chief minister be from Jammu? “This is the most aspirational factor of this election,” 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.
“PM Modi restored our dignity, gave us voting rights and access to central government schemes and even provided ration cards. Why shouldn’t we reciprocate his gesture?” 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. “We 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. It’s difficult to survive in these small quarters which are allotted on a lease and not on a permanent basis,” 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.
“People 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,” explains a senior journalist while giving a sense of the mood in Jammu.
(This appeared in the print as 'Who Moved My Durbar?')
