India, Nov. 17 -- After a four-year hiatus, the century-and-a-half-old practice of the Darbar move-symbolizing the unity of Jammu and Kashmir-was revived in October, with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah walking to the Civil Secretariat in Jammu amid cheers, flower showers, and beating drums. For many, the moment carried emotional and historical resonance. Traders and ordinary citizens viewed it not just as the return of an administrative ritual, but as the restoration of a tradition that tied the two regions together-economically, culturally, and symbolically.

The Darbar move dates back to the 1870s, when the Dogra rulers instituted the biannual shifting of the capital between Srinagar and Jammu. The move ensured that both regions received ...