Jammu, October 21, 2022: Punjabi singer Arjan Dhillon on yesterday drew flak from Jammuites, who have accused him of calling the people of Jammu especially ‘Dogras’ “raiders” in his latest song.
In the song titled ‘Maharani Jinda’n’, Dhillion, can be heard venting his angst accusing the Dogras about the deteriorated plight of erstwhile kingdom of Punjab by the Dogra rulers who gradually became kings by replacing Maharaja Ranjit Singh after killing his sons.
Watch Video
Reacting to the song, Vikram Jeet Singh Manhas a social activist and member of Yuva Rajput Sabha accused the singer of using derogatory remarks against Maharaja Gulab Singh and disrespecting the people of Jammu.
“After every one or two year some Punjabi singers release such songs where they humiliate Dogras. If we talk particularly about this song where the singer is calling dogras raiders and saying that Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s sons Kharak Singh and Nau Nihal Singh were killed by Dogra rulers, it is fabricated I will say. I think these singers read histories from some edited wikipedia articles and under that influence they compose these songs. In 1812 Maharaja Ranjit Singh made Kharak Singh king of Jammu, but when he came to know that his son has become an opium addict he dethroned him and appointed Kishore Singh father of Maharaja Gulab Singh as governor of Jammu and these references are documented in historical texts”, he said.
He further said that people have said that Kharak Singh was killed by Dhian Singh (Brother of Maharaja Kishore Singh) they should know that Kharak Singh and his brother planned to sell Punjab to Britishers and Dhian Singh was the one who killed him on this pretext that he betrayed (Maharaja Ranjit Singh) by giving away Punjab’s dominion to the British Raj. ”All the three Dogra brothers were very loyal towards Ranjit Singh that’s why he used to gift them whole kingdoms”, he said.
He added that if one read history people will know that when Kharak Singh and his predecessors failed to become worthy rulers of Punjab, they then started to malign the ‘Dogra’ image, in order to hide their drawbacks.
”People also use to give allusions of Lal Singh that he didn’t fought with British in Anglo-Sikh war and came back as a coward, but how can people call him Dogra cause how he can be a dogra as he was born in Rawalpindi and in that war Ranjit Singh didn’t had enough arsenal that’s why they stepped back. In Lahore Darbar during that era Maharaja Gulab Singh was a much honoured figure by Ranjit’s soldiers then any other because he was wise, brave and had an dominating personality”, he further added.
He said that people have written in history books that Dogra rulers murdered Ranjit Singh’s sons but how they can cause during Hazuri-Bagh gate crash incident Gulab Singh’s son Udham Singh got killed before Nau Nihal Singh.
”This particular Hazuri-Bagh incident should stun people that how can Dogra rulers can kill others when their own sons got killed in such horrible incidents. On recent Lakhanpur incident , I want to say that Suchet Singh was the youngest brother of Maharaja Gulab Singh whose generations are still living there Mukerian (Punjab) and recently when we got leave on Maharaja Hari Singh’s birthday in Jammu, the people from there extended their support to us and celebrated this good news with euphoria”, he added.
Moreover, he said that the release of this song and ruckus created by Mr Mann an MP from Punjab who was stopped at Lakhanpur border from entering Jammu are inter-related, because according to him one day ago he gave a statement in media that the Hindutva ideology saw its rise during the reign of Maharaja Gulab Singh, but how can it be true as Maharaja’s army consisted people from various religions.
”The Sikhs who are settled in Jammu from generations came here during his time and how this MP can smear the image of Maharaja. All of us know that Mr Mann’s intentions was to meet separatists there in Kashmir and he is also known for his separatist politics back in Punjab”, he said.
Lastly, he said in a warning tone that the tourism department of Jammu should abstain from inviting such singers in their functions who defame Jammu and its heritage and should promote and invite local artists in their cultural programs.
I want the local people of Jammu to report these kind of songs who try to spoil the image of people of Jammu especially Dogras and I also request to Mr Anurag Thakur who heads Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to pay heed to our grievances, the media person said.
Aman Zutshi
