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The Darbar Move was, is and will remain a medieval and wasteful practice, a legacy of monarchical and imperial elitism. You would have expected a young leader to offer innovative solutions to meet challenges of governance. One capital, decentralized administrative structures and 12 month, multi-tier administrative connect in both Provinces. Shimla used to be the Summer Capital of the British Raj. And that had nothing to do with governance or outreach. It was an arrangement based out of convenience for the imperial administrators. Delhi got too hot in the summers. The dual capital legacy in J&K is not any different. The monarchs moved their seat of power to Jammu in the winters to escape the vagaries of Kashmir’s winter — leaving people in Kashmir to fend for themselves when they needed governance the most. Srinagar’s historicity and centrality cannot be equated with Jammu — in terms of politics, economics and geographical relevance. Srinagar should be the permanent and only capital of J&K with robust administrative structural restructuring to ensure Jammu Province has 12-month provincial administrative offices and institutions in Jammu city to ensure effective governance — making the “move” unnecessary and irrelevant. While this is a larger debate and will evoke sharp reactions, what I am most surprised by is the way the CM and the Government are celebrating the restoration of this practice as an “achievement” of some sort! For lack of any other actual achievements, one can understand their desperation but one hopes they realize the forces that have torn Jammu and Kashmir apart cannot be defeated with the restoration of Darbar Move. Jammu (except Chenab and Pir Panjal) has little in common with Kashmir now — politically, linguistically and culturally. And that is evident in how Jammu votes on an axis diametrically different than Kashmir. A day will come when we will realize that a “united” Jammu and Kashmir is a fallacy that we keep on perpetuating in our delusions and due to a lack of sincerity to admit the truth; and a fallacy for which, for now, the people of Kashmir are bearing the costs of political and administrative discrimination. A stark example is the reservation policy. Anyways, in the circus of absurdity — the clown is the star. Let the celebrations continue!