Does the movie Satluj represent Freedom of Expression?

Why now? Who benefits? What impact could such films have on public discourse before Punjab's 2027 elections?

July 22, 2026

Why is the movie Satluj so controversial?

The controversy over the Hindi movie Satluj is getting murkier. The movie is a biographical sketch of Khalistani sympathizer also a Human Rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. Well-known star Diljit Dosanjh plays the protagonist Khalra; the movie is produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Honey Trehan and Abhishek Choubey and is directed by Honey Trehan.

The same movie was sent for censor certification three years ago under the name ‘Punjab 95’; the Film Certification Board suggested more than 100 cuts to this controversial content. However, instead of following the Board’s suggestions, the filmmakers quietly brought the film into the OTT circuit three years later, with the new name Satluj, releasing it on the Zee 5 platform on 3rd July 2026. (There is no need for CBFC certification for OTT platforms). Within two days, the film was taken off, ostensibly due to the Central Govt’s instructions. It was removed from OTT platforms under Section 69A of the IT Act 2000, and under Rule 16 of the IT Rules 2021. Even though it’s taken off from OTTs in India, the film is freely available all over the world, and also on YouTube everywhere, including in India. For good measure, the lead actor Diljit Dosanjh, who is an American citizen, also announced that viewers should download the movie and watch it.

What is the controversy all about?

Analysts say that the movie is entirely one-sided. In the volatile 1980s-90s, thousands of innocent lives were lost in Punjab, Delhi, and other parts of North India; Indians, especially Hindus, fell victim to the vicious Khalistani separatist terrorism. Hindus were identified and killed because they were Hindus. In that terrifying, violent decade, Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh (who was later assassinated) and Punjab’s Director General of Police KPS Gill led the staunch, unforgettable fight against Khalistani terrorism, mobilising the state police with great courage and valour. During the course of the bloody decade, they were able to eliminate armed terrorism completely from Punjab. The nation will forever remain indebted to them. Official statistics report 11,690 deaths of innocent people, while 1740 police personnel were martyred in the line of duty. However, the actual killings were several times more than the official records. Terrorists hunted down the family members of police personnel and killed them brutally. The movie Satluj doesn’t talk about the brutal killings of innocent people at the hands of terrorists. Nor does it talk of the mastermind behind Khalistani separatist terrorism, Pakistan’s ISI.

During those violent times, it was alleged that thousands of people were subjected to extrajudicial killings by the police in the name of rooting out terrorism. Analysts said that while it is true that deaths happened in the hands of police during that turbulent decade, they say that those numbers don’t run into thousands as the Khalistani sympathizers claim.

Old-timers and journalists recall several instances of how armed militants identified Hindus from running buses, shot and killed them. In fact, Union Minister and grandson of the slain then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, Ravneet Singh Bittu, stated that more than 25,000 Hindus were killed in the violence and asked why the Hindus are quiet about the film Satluj. He also asked the filmmakers to provide some kind of documentary evidence to substantiate their claim that thousands of people were killed in police excesses. Nirmala Kanta, a government school headmistress in Rajpura, near Patiala, was shot dead during the insurgency, just for seeking time, when she was ordered that girls should wear the traditional salwar kameez as school uniforms, and not frocks. Schools were ordered not to play the national anthem. In a deadly attack of aviation terrorism, Air India Kanishka – flight 182 from Toronto to Mumbai was bombed mid-air in June 1985 by Babbar Khalsa; all 329 persons on board were killed. A well-known scientist from Andhra Pradesh, Dr Yelavarthy Nayudamma, who served as Vice Chancellor, JNU, and as Director General of CSIR, was killed in the bombing.

While the movie doesn’t take into consideration the gamut of Khalistan terrorism that was unleashed in hapless Punjab, it only shows that Jaswant Singh Khalra led a movement exposing the illegal killings by police. The movie doesn’t even acknowledge that Khalra was a leader of Shiromani Akali Dal, or that he ran and edited a magazine called Liberation Khalistan in support of separatism.

In 1995, Khalra was inhumanely assassinated in police custody by some policemen; the case created a furor across the country, and all sane minds and all political parties condemned the killing. All the killers were brought to justice and were sentenced to life imprisonment. It is said that the killers are still in jail serving their sentences. Yet the thousands of people killed by Khalistani terrorism and their families, the hundreds of police personnel martyred, and their families never got any justice. However, the film doesn’t even mention this humungous human tragedy. The then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh was also assassinated in the same year.

Congress party, which had lost the then Chief Minister Beant Singh and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Khalistani terrorism, is today playing politics over this movie. If a filmmaker makes a movie eulogizing Indira Gandhi’s killers, will the Congress Party stay silent over it?

When the whole country is aware that Pakistan’s ISI interventions are always active in this sensitive border state of Punjab, that illegal drug trafficking is continuing unabated for long, all political parties are politicizing this issue considering that elections to the Punjab Assembly are due in early 2027.

Some questions remain. Internationally, especially in Canada and the USA, when the extremely worrying khalistani separatism has raised its ugly head in the last few years, where was the need to make this movie? The khalistani separatists in Canada have paraded tableaux which show Indira Gandhi being assassinated by her `valiant’ killers who are projected as heroes, avenging Operation Blue Star. Dozens of Gurudwaras in Punjab prominently display Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale’s portraits calling him a Sant and a martyr for the cause, when it is well-known that he was directly responsible for growing militancy in Punjab decades ago. What is the mysterious reason behind the movie’s one-sided portrayal of Khalra, as only a Human Rights activist, without showing him as a khalistani sympathizer? Why is it necessary not to show the complete picture of the dastardly terrorism in Punjab? Who will benefit if the people, especially the youth who are unaware of the violence and trauma that the previous generation has endured, are provoked at a crucial juncture before the Punjab Assembly elections slated for early 2027?

While activists have been crying hoarse that movies and shows on OTT platforms are full of violence and sex, and have been indulging in severe distortions, why is the Central Govt not bringing the OTTs under the purview of the law? Is it more important for filmmakers, producers and writers to exercise their right to expression and freedom of speech, when national security and integrity are under direct threat with distorted content and biased material?

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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