Removal of Maharaja Pratap Singh’s name from JMC website condemnable: Ajatshatru Singh

Jammu, Oct 23: Senior BJP leader and former minister  MK Ajatshatru Singh has strongly condemned the removal of the name of Maharaja Pratap Singh from the official website of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC).

Expressing deep anguish over the development, the former minister said that such an act is not merely a clerical error but a disrespect to the glorious Dogra history and a direct insult to the Maharaja who gave Jammu its civic identity. “Flood ke baad paani nahi, barish ke baad bijli nahi — ye sab toh sab jaayenge, but this deliberate erasure of our heritage is unacceptable,” he remarked.

In a press release issued here today, MK Ajatshatru Singh reminded that the Jammu Municipal Committee (now Corporation) was founded in 1886 by Maharaja Pratap Singh, whose visionary leadership laid the foundation of modern civic administration in Jammu. “It was Maharaja Pratap Singh who institutionalised urban governance in Jammu, giving shape to its civic and infrastructural framework. To remove his name from the official records is to deny the very roots of Jammu’s municipal identity,” he stated.

The senior BJP leader asked the Jammu Municipal Corporation and the UT Administration to immediately rectify this grave mistake by restoring Maharaja Pratap Singh’s name and rightful acknowledgment on all official platforms and records.

He further said that the Dogra legacy must be preserved and respected, as it represents centuries of sacrifice, service, and state-building that shaped Jammu and Kashmir. “It is unfortunate that even in Jammu, where the Dogra rulers are revered, their contributions are being sidelined. This is not acceptable to any self-respecting Dogra,” he said.

Ajatshatru Singh said, “The present government must ensure that the historical truth is upheld and the credit of founding the Jammu Municipal Committee remains forever with Maharaja Pratap Singh—the great Dogra ruler who gave Jammu its civic soul.”