Satluj takedown puts Khalra’s story back at centre of debate

By Asia Samachar  | India |

A long-awaited film about one of the darkest chapters in Punjab’s recent history was available to Indian audiences for barely 48 hours before being pulled from ZEE5, reigniting debate over censorship, historical memory and freedom of expression.

Satluj, starring Punjabi actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh as human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, was released uncut on the streaming platform on July 3. It was removed in India on July 5 after the government directed ZEE5 to take it down over what officials described as “security concerns”.

The latest development came on Tuesday (July 7), when government sources said the film would be referred to an Inter-Departmental Committee under the Information Technology Rules, 2021, for detailed examination and a decision on further action.

ZEE5 has said the film will remain unavailable in India until further notice, while maintaining that it stands by the film and is exploring avenues through due process to restore access. The movie remains listed on ZEE5 Global outside India, according to local media reports.

Directed by Honey Trehan, Satluj was originally titled Punjab ’95. The film remained unreleased for more than three years after becoming entangled in the Central Board of Film Certification process.

Reports said the board proposed as many as 127 changes before certification could be granted. The makers eventually abandoned a theatrical release, renamed the film Satluj and released it directly on OTT without cuts.

Government officials have said the film was released before the certification process was completed. The controversy, however, has also raised questions over the regulatory position of films released directly on streaming services, where content is governed by the IT Rules rather than the conventional CBFC certification system for theatrical exhibition.

At the heart of the film is Khalra, who investigated alleged enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and secret cremations during Punjab’s years of militancy and counterinsurgency. Human Rights Watch said his work exposed more than 2,000 secret cremations in Amritsar district alone. Amnesty International later noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation examined 2,097 cremation cases in the district and identified hundreds of bodies.

Khalra disappeared on September 6, 1995, after being taken into custody by Punjab police, according to human rights organisations. Several police officers were later convicted over his abduction and murder. His case has since become an enduring symbol of the struggle for accountability for abuses committed during that period.

Rather than portraying Khalra as a conventional screen hero, the film follows his determination to document the missing and seek answers for families whose loved ones had vanished. Trehan has described the story as fundamentally one about human rights rather than politics or religion.

“Jaswant Singh knew the risks. He had a wife, two young children, and even had the opportunity to seek asylum abroad, but he chose to stay because he believed someone had to fight for those families,” Trehan said.

The takedown has drawn criticism from Sikh groups, relatives of victims and members of the film industry. Dosanjh responded by sharing a scene from the film with the message “I challenge the darkness”, while actor Kanwaljit Singh publicly questioned what the removal meant for freedom of speech.

After three years of delays, Satluj had finally brought Khalra’s story to a mass Indian audience. Its disappearance two days later has ensured that the film — and the history it seeks to revisit — is now at the centre of an even larger debate.

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