Pro-Khalistan shows no sentiment, shows truth: Khalra’s lawyer on removal of OTT from Satluj
The removal of Sutlej from Zee5 after its brief release has drawn mixed reactions from people associated with the Jaswant Khalra case. While lawyer Navkiran Singh termed the move wrong, former IAS officer KBS Sidhu said it may have been done to protect public order.
sudden removal of Satluj Zee5 has again stirred the debate regarding the film, in which people associated with the Jaswant Singh Khalra case have offered different reactions to the controversy. Advocate Navkiran Singh, who was part of Jaswant Singh Khalra’s human rights team and was representing Jaswant Khalra’s wife Paramjit Kaur Khalra in the CBI case, has called for his removal. Satluj Was wrong.
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Meanwhile, former IAS officer KBS Sidhu, who was the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar from 1992 to 1996 when Tarn Taran was part of the district, took a different view and said the film would have been removed to protect public order and law and order.
This was followed by reactions Satluj Released on ZEE5 without promotion on Friday, 3 July and later removed without any prior notice. Zee5 said it stood by the film, but did not give the exact reason for the removal, only saying that, ‘in the light of current developments’, it is not available for streaming. This was the original title of the film Punjab ’95 And had faced authentication issues in the past.
‘Whatever the film shows is the truth’: Navkiran Singh
talking to India TodayNavkiran Singh said that first the film was cut and then its title was changed, but he said that what was shown in it was true. “Removing the film is wrong. Satluj First it was cut and then its title was changed. Whatever the film shows is the truth. There were records of 2,097 cremations involving unknown victims. On 6 September 1995, the police picked up Jaswant Singh Khalra from his house. He met me a week before that.”
He said, “Four lawyers associated with us were murdered, and I was also attacked. I represented Paramjit Kaur Khalra in the Supreme Court, after which the case was referred as a human rights case. Our team then worked on the case and compiled the necessary data. Not releasing the film or removing it will hurt the BJP politically in Punjab. This film will not promote any pro-Khalistan sentiments.”
KBS Sidhu supports expulsion, cites law and order concerns
Former IAS officer KBS Sidhu, who served as Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar between 1992 and 1996, when Tarn Taran was part of the district, took a different view.
Acknowledging that the incidents depicted in the film are based on facts revealed during the investigation, Sidhu said the authorities would have removed the film to prevent any disturbance to public order.
During the conversation, he said, “The story shown in the film is true and it was confirmed during the CBI investigation.” India Today.
Sidhu recalled that he was serving as Deputy Commissioner when Khalra was allegedly kidnapped in September 1995.
He said, “The very next day after he was taken, I had ordered a magisterial inquiry. At that time, contact with the then SSP of Tarn Taran, Ajit Sandhu, could not be established.”
The former bureaucrat said that many of those considered responsible in the case are no longer alive, including former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, former Punjab DGP KPS Gill and former SSP Ajit Sandhu.
He said Khalra’s family eventually got justice through the courts. Ajit Sandhu died by suicide in 1997, while several police personnel were convicted in connection with the case.
Sidhu said the film tells a true story, but has different ways of presenting sensitive historical events.
He said, “Perhaps the film was removed due to concerns about public order. Such issues can sometimes be interpreted in different ways and could potentially give new impetus to Khalistan-related narratives.”
about satluj
SatlujDirected by Honey Trehan and starring Diljit Dosanjh, Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, it was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification in 2022, but did not receive the clearance certificate. The filmmakers had earlier alleged that the board had demanded 127 cuts.
The film was also scheduled to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023, but the screening was reportedly canceled after Indian authorities raised objections. After its brief release on Zee5, audiences and critics praised it before it was removed, while Diljit said that the film still reached audiences and continued to be streamed online.