The Shiromani Akali Dal on Wednesday condemned the cuts imposed by the Censor Board of India on the biopic on Punjab-based human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra who suddenly disappeared in 1995.

Terming the cuts as “legal murder”, the SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said the massive cuts imposed by Censor Board of India have reportedly killed its spirit as well as the theme.

“The film Punjab 95 (earlier titled Ghallughara) highlights state repression against a human rights activist and is based on court documents. The Sikh community is perturbed that the Censor Board is seeking to whitewash the atrocities committed by the state against an activist who was collecting data of extra-judicial killings,” Badal said.

He said it is also condemnable that different yardsticks are used when dealing with films associated with the Sikh community and their anguish.

“The same Censor Board did not feel it fit to censor the Kashmir Files which speaks about the agony of Kashmiri Pandits. This gives the impression that the Board is biased in its outlook towards minority communities,” Badal said.

The SAD demanded withdrawal of all cuts suggested by the Censor Board and release of the original film to ensure the truth and pain of the community is not suppressed.

The Punjab Police first regarded Khalra’s death as a suicide, but in 2005, six Punjab police officers were found guilty and given seven years in prison for kidnapping and killing Khalra.

The role of Jaswant Singh Khalra was crucial in unearthing proof that the police had kidnapped, killed, and cremated thousands of unidentified people during the days of terrorism in Punjab. Khalra worked as a bank director and hailed from Amritsar.

Khalra was one of several Sikhs who saw police brutality when terrorism was at its peak. Police officers could arrest individuals for whatever reason and were even involved in the killing of unarmed civilians thanks to the Punjab Police receiving extensive extrajudicial powers from the Indira Gandhi-led Centre government.

With an accusatory finger pointed at the police, Khalra made it his life’s work to compile a list of all the unlawful deaths and disappearances that took place after Bluestar.

According to his research, Punjab Police killed over 2,000 police personnel who disobeyed their techniques in addition to participating in 25,000 illegal killings and cremations. The film, Punjab ’95 has been made on Khalra which will premiere at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)2023 in September this year.

The trailer of the film with actor Diljit Dosanjh in the lead was released on Monday, July 31. The film also stars Arjun Rampal and Suvinder Vicky, who has received a lot of praise for his prominent part in the Netflix series Kohhra. Directed by Honey Trehan and produced by Ronnie Screwvala’s production company RSVP Movies.

The movie, which was originally titled Ghallughara, made headlines after its producers sued the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for delaying the censor certificate for more than six months and mandated 21 edits.