news details |
|
|
| Time to restore pre-1947 position | | Practice of Darbar move | | Neha
JAMMU, Jan 20: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah the other day tweeted that "since the darbar move can be done away with, perhaps the time has come to seriously consider reversing the move", suggesting that the age-old system was akin to "running away at most problematic times". "Stop this escapism of running away at most problematic times - stay in Srinagar during winter and Jammu in the summer to address problems," he also tweeted.
The practice of darbar move was introduced by Mahar-aja Ranbir Singh in 1972. He took this step to defeat the conspiracies being hatched in Kashmir by the British imperialists in collaboration with the anti-Dogra forces in the Valley, who had been opposing the March 1846 Treaty of Amritsar under which Kashmir became part of the Jammu King-dom. The British imperialists had been arousing communal passions in the Valley and provoking the anti-Amritsar Treaty and fundamentalist forces there since 1847 to rise in revolt against the Dogra Maharajas because neither Maharaja Gulab Singh, founder of Jammu & Kashmir State, nor Maharaja Ranbir Singh, who succeeded Gulab Singh in 1857, had endorsed the British demands, including the demand seeking construction of military roads connecting Kashmir with the northern territories, including Gilgit. The British imperialists wanted military roads in these strategic areas in order to establish their foothold there and watch and check the Russian activities. Imperialist Russians that time had been trying their level best to win over the local chiefs, all or nearly all Muslims, so that they could establish their foothold in Afghanistan and advance towards India. It was these and similar other conspiratorial activities which were being indulged in by the canny and expansionist British imperialists which compelled Maharaja Ranbir Singh to introduce the practice of darbar move with Jammu as the permanent capital of the state as before.
This and the above-stated facts need to be underlined and appreciated. Not to do so would be only to distort history, preach falsehood and mislead the people. Those who opine that the "seat of the government made bi-annual journeys along the treacherous Srinagar-Jammu road to escape the harsh weather of Kashmir in winter and Jammu during summer" are only partly correct. It needs to be noted that the decision of the Maharaja was based on purely political and administrative considerations and exigency of the time and it was taken to check and defeat the anti-Jammu and anti-Dogra activities in the Valley. This is the factual position and can be easily verified on the basis of official records available with the State Archives, Jammu, and National Archives of India, Janpath, New Delhi.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah suggested that the seat of government should be based in Srinagar during the winter and in Jammu during summer. Why go in for such a reversal? Why not restore the pre-1947 position when the permanent capital of the Jammu & Kashmir was Jammu? It would be highly desirable if we go in for the restoration of the pre-1947 position, as it would be considered a corrective of history. This is the best alternative available. Even otherwise, there is no need to maintain the highly costly and cumbersome practice of darbar move. For, the circumstances which compelled the Maharaja to introduce the practice of darbar move in 1872 ceased to exist the day the British quit India under pressure from the Indian nation, not under pressure from the Indian National Congress, which claims it won independence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
