Jammu: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) organised a protest demonstration in Jammu, Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, today, demanding the restoration of the Darbar Move and statehood.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the Darbar Move is the biannual shift of the IIOJK secretariat and other government offices from the summer capital Srinagar to the winter capital Jammu.

Scores of CPI-M workers, led by JK Kisan Tehreek president Kishor Kumar, carried placards in support of restoring the Darbar Move and special status for the territory and job rights. They raised slogans like “Darbar Move bahaal karo, statehood bahaal karo”. Blaming the BJP for downgrading the state to a Union Territory (UT) and halting the Darbar Move, the protesters demanded the restoration of the Darbar Move, statehood, and exclusive land and job rights for locals.

“We are holding a protest in support of restoring the Darbar Move and statehood in Jammu and Kashmir. We demand reservation of land and job rights for locals under special status,” Kumar told reporters. He said the BJP is responsible for all the issues being faced by JK, particularly the revocation of statehood, special status, and the stopping of the Darbar Move. With the formation of the new democratic government here, the central government should restore these, he added.

Kumar said the then Maharaja Hari Singh had given the people of JK special status. “The BJP acted as a villain by taking away these rights. It stopped the age-old practice of the Darbar Move, which was aimed at integrating Kashmir and Jammu regions,” he said. The General Administration Department (GAD) on October 23 issued an order stating that only the administrative secretaries and UT-level heads of departments (HoDs) would shift to Jammu from Srinagar from November 11 and would attend the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar as needed, officially ending the Darbar Move.