Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu on Sunday challenged the producers and director of the Punjabi film Satluj to publicly substantiate the film’s claim that around 25,000 people went missing or were illegally cremated during Punjab’s militancy years, saying the figure must be backed by official records, judicial findings and authenticated evidence rather than presented as an established historical fact.
Issuing what he described as an open challenge, Bittu said the filmmakers should place “the complete documentary evidence, official records, judicial findings and authenticated data” before the people of Punjab if they wished to stand by the figure portrayed in the film.
He added that if the data was authenticated, he would “publicly apologise”, but warned that failure to substantiate the claim would compel him to pursue appropriate legal and constitutional remedies.
Questioning the basis of the number cited in the film, the Union minister asked why an estimate or allegation, if that was the case, had been projected as an established historical conclusion. He also questioned why viewers were not informed that the figure had not been conclusively established through any final judicial determination.
Bittu said filmmakers could not invoke “creative freedom” while presenting disputed claims as settled history. “Punjab’s painful past is not a script to be selectively edited to suit a narrative,” he said, asserting that every historical claim must withstand public scrutiny and be supported by verifiable evidence.
The minister also accused the film of presenting what he called a selective account of Punjab’s insurgency period. He questioned why the killings of innocent bus passengers, shopkeepers, labourers, government employees and other civilians allegedly targeted by terrorists had not been depicted with equal prominence. He also asked why, in his view, the sacrifices made by Punjab Police personnel, security forces and citizens who fought militancy had been underplayed.
“Why has one side of history been amplified while the suffering of thousands of other victims has been marginalised?” Bittu asked, adding that controversial assertions should have been clearly distinguished from officially established facts instead of being presented without qualification.
Maintaining that no filmmaker had the right to distort history by treating contested figures as unquestionable truth, Bittu said Punjab had paid a heavy price during the years of terrorism and that “every innocent victim deserves justice and remembrance, irrespective of religion, community or ideology.”
Calling upon the makers of Satluj to release the documentary basis of the figure within a reasonable time, the minister said they owed the people of Punjab a public clarification if they were unable to support the number with credible evidence.
“Truth must prevail over propaganda, facts over fiction and evidence over emotion,” he said, adding that Punjab’s history could not be rewritten through selective storytelling.
Bittu’s remarks came amid the continuing controversy surrounding Satluj, which stars Diljit Dosanjh as human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. The film has been removed from ZEE5’s Indian and international streaming catalogues after the Centre invoked emergency powers under the Information Technology Act, citing procedural and security-related concerns.
Government sources have said a high-level inter-departmental committee reviewing the film recommended that the restrictions should continue. According to officials, the panel concluded that the film’s narrative did not adequately reflect the broader context of Punjab’s militancy and could have implications for public order in a sensitive border state.
The Centre has also maintained that the film was released without completing the applicable certification process before the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Officials have argued that productions dealing with sensitive historical issues must comply with statutory certification requirements and cannot rely solely on creative disclaimers where questions of national security and public order are involved.
The restrictions have triggered political reactions in Punjab, with opposition parties and Sikh organisations criticising the government’s decision and describing the film as an important account of a significant chapter in the state’s history. The producers are expected to challenge the Centre’s action before the Bombay High Court, setting the stage for a legal battle that could shape the future regulatory framework for politically sensitive content on OTT platforms.