Zee5 pulled the film. The Gurdwara committee has other plans. Public screenings, college seminars, one story they refuse to let disappear. Khalra’s truth was silenced once. This time, they’re making sure it isn’t again.
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The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee has objected to the removal of the political drama ‘Satluj’ from Zee5. The committee has called the move an attempt to suppress the story of social activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. It has also announced plans for public screenings and educational seminars to ensure the film still reaches audiences.
On Tuesday, DSGMC President Harmeet Singh Kalka addressed the situation directly. He said the film highlights the activist’s efforts to uncover alleged human rights violations in Punjab and should not be blocked from reaching audiences.
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Kalka explained that since the film is a biographical portrayal of Jaswant Singh Khalra, it depicts how a social activist opened people’s eyes to the truth. He said Khalra had uncovered evidence of 25,000 bodies that were cremated as unclaimed, and raised this issue both within India and internationally, drawing attention to the dire situation in Punjab at the time.
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He called the suppression of this story deeply wrong. According to Kalka, preventing the events of that dark era from reaching the public has sparked immense outrage across the Sikh community.
Kalka confirmed that the committee has decided to organise public screenings of the film. Alongside this, seminars will be held in educational institutions to discuss Khalra’s life and work.
He said the committee has already asked all Gurdwara committee members to download and screen the film in their respective areas, ensuring it reaches people directly. He added that a meeting will soon be convened with chairpersons of schools and colleges under DSGMC’s management.
According to Kalka, seminars on Jaswant Singh Khalra will be organised in every college to discuss his life and legacy. He said the goal is to help people realise the impact a single social activist can have on society. He added that if one individual could achieve so much, there is no reason a collective effort cannot achieve similar results.
Satluj stars Diljit Dosanjh as Jaswant Singh Khalra, a bank clerk who became a human rights activist. Khalra exposed alleged illegal killings and secret cremations that took place during the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period marked by intense militancy and counter insurgency operations across Punjab.
Khalra disappeared in 1995. A decade later, four Punjab Police personnel were convicted for his abduction, torture, and alleged murder. Despite this conviction, Khalra’s body has never been found.
The film was originally titled Panjab 95. It spent nearly four years in a battle with the censor board. The Central Board of Film Certification demanded 120 cuts.
On Friday, the film was quietly released on Zee5, appearing completely uncut and under a new title. Just two days later, on Sunday, the film was removed from Zee5 in India. The streaming platform cited unspecified developments as the reason.
Reports have suggested that the film was taken down for allegedly violating provisions under the IT Rules, though specific details behind this claim have not been fully clarified.
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