Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu has called actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh a ‘traitor’ while reacting to the controversy over the removal of his film. Satluj From Zee5. Rejecting allegations of Centre’s role in removing the film, Bittu said the government has no control over OTT platforms. The controversy has intensified after the film disappeared from the platform within 48 hours of its release, with some sections of the Punjabi film industry, social media users and the Punjab government questioning whether political pressure was behind the move.

Speaking in Ludhiana, Bittu, grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, accused Diljit of being motivated by money and alleged that the actor has misled people over the film’s brief streaming window. He also criticized the film’s portrayal of Punjab’s insurgency years and expanded his attack on Dosanjh’s public positions, his film choices and his conduct at shows abroad.

Bittu said, “Diljit Dosanjh only thinks about money.” Questioning the claim that the government was responsible for removing the film, he said, “We should have understood that something was wrong when Diljit Dosanjh said that the film will be available on OTT platforms for two-three days and then will be removed. If the government really intended to remove the film, then why would it allow it to be streamed in the first place.”

He said, “It seems that once they earned the required money, they removed the film. The government has no control over OTT platforms.”

The Union Minister also made a personal attack on Dosanjh over his film selection. referring to brightHe said, “If Diljit Dosanjh had any respect for the women in his family, like his mother or sister, he would not have worked in the film Chamkila.” Bittu also said that Dosanjh made a film on Amar Singh Chamkila to make money, whom he described as a singer of obscene songs, and asked where the actor was when Jaswant Singh Khalra was struggling.

Bittu further called Dosanjh a fraud and said that he is misleading Punjab while sitting in Los Angeles, America. He said that during his shows abroad, Dosanjh asks people bringing Khalistan flags to be thrown out, and then asks, “Which agencies are behind Diljit?”

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But SatlujBittu said he was not against films on Punjab’s insurgency years, but objected to what he described as a one-sided story. He said, “I am not against the film, but a one-sided story should not be shown.” Challenging Dosanjh and director Honey Trehan to make a film on the sacrifices of police personnel during the insurgency, he asked, “Will Diljit Dosanjh and Honey Trehan make a film on the police officers who were murdered during 1984?”

after which the controversy started Satluj It started streaming on Zee5 and then suddenly became unavailable within two days. The sudden removal led to speculations that the platform had acted under government pressure. Amidst the controversy, Dosanjh had said that the film would only be on the platform for a short period of time before being removed, further raising questions over its removal. The film contains references to the role of the Beant Singh government and the Punjab Police during the last phase of terrorism in the state.

Bittu’s comments come at a time when the film’s removal is under investigation and his own name has come into controversy after the Punjab government alleged that he played a role in its removal. Beant Singh, to whom Bittu is related, was Chief Minister of Punjab from 1992 until his assassination in a suicide bomb attack outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on 31 August 1995, a period during which the state’s anti-insurgency campaign and allegations of human rights violations by security forces continued to be controversial. Diljit’s film also includes the murder of Beant Singh.