Chandigarh: Political parties and Sikh bodies in Punjab Monday slammed the removal of Diljit Dosanjh’s film Satluj from an OTT platform, saying the movie compels India to confront one of the state’s “darkest chapters” and that history must be confronted with honesty, not buried through censorship.
Criticising the removal of the film from ZEE5 platform, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “This is not mere censorship, it is an assault on our collective memory, truth, and freedom of expression”.
The Honey Trehan-directed film features Dosanjh as human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra who was abducted in 1995 and was never seen after that.
The film, originally titled Punjab ‘95, was stuck with the censors for more than three years. The director and actor refused to release it with the 127 cuts suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification.
The movie was released without any cuts, but Sunday evening the platform shared a statement to inform viewers that it’s no longer available in India.
Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party strongly condemned the removal of Satluj from the OTT platform and demanded that the film be restored immediately so that people, especially the younger generation, can learn about Punjab’s history without “political censorship”.
AAP leader Baltej Pannu alleged that the BJP and the Congress are working together “to erase Congress’s black history in Punjab and prevent the younger generation from learning the truth about one of the darkest chapters in the state’s past”.
“The younger generation wants to know what happened in Punjab during 1978, 1984, the 1990s and other crucial periods. If they are denied books and documentaries, films become an important way of preserving historical truth,” said Pannu.
Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon, when asked by reporters here to comment that the film had been removed from the platform, said, “I am finding out the reason. We are taking up the matter.”
Senior Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira said, “I strongly condemn the removal of ‘Satluj’ film enacted by Diljit Dosanjh about police brutality in abducting and eliminating Prof Jaswant Singh Khalra, Human Rights activist in 1995.”
I strongly condemn the removal of Satluj film enacted by @diljitdosanjh about police brutality in abducting and eliminating Prof Jaswant Singh Khalra #HumanRights activist in 1995.
This film is based on true facts that were upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India while… pic.twitter.com/ufADxxkqdB
— Sukhpal Singh Khaira (@SukhpalKhaira) July 6, 2026
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and MP Malvinder Singh Kang said when a nation begins to fear its own history, censorship becomes its most dangerous weapon.
Kulwant Singh Manan, chief secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SPGC), asserted that people should know what happened during those days in Punjab.
“The film should not have been removed from the platform. The government should ensure that people see this film. What is wrong if reality is shown and public come to know of what happened during those days in Punjab,” Manan told PTI over phone.
SAD chief Badal said he was shocked and saddened by the “arbitrary removal of Satluj from #ZEE5 in India”.
Shocked and saddened by the arbitrary removal of #Satluj from #ZEE5 in India.
A powerful film that courageously unveils Punjab’s painful history and honours the supreme sacrifice of S. Jaswant Singh Ji Khalra cannot be silenced this way.
This is not mere censorship — it is an… pic.twitter.com/yfrkMKYq5D— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) July 5, 2026
This is not mere censorship, it is an assault on our collective memory, truth, and freedom of expression, he said.
“I strongly condemn this move. Punjab deserves to confront its past with honesty, not suppression,” Badal said in a post on X.
“A powerful film that courageously unveils Punjab’s painful history and honours the supreme sacrifice of S. Jaswant Singh Ji Khalra cannot be silenced this way,” Badal said.
In a post on X, Congress’ Khaira said, “We all know about the gross human rights violations prevalent then in Punjab and the subsequent mysterious disappearance of Prof Jaswant Singh Khalra. The removal of this fact based film is in contradiction to the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India that upheld the conviction of guilty police officers responsible for the abduction of Prof Khalra”.
“This film is based on true facts that were upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India while convicting guilty police officers. I’m saddened that the same #PoliceState is still operating unabashedly in Punjab under the @BhagwantMann govt,” Khaira said.
The Congress leader urged the government “to release the film so that present and future generations know what a #PoliceState is which unfortunately still rules the roost in Punjab”.
In a post on X, AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang said Propaganda-driven films such as ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘The Kerala Story’ were promoted and screened without obstruction.
Beyond shocking.
When a nation begins to fear its own history, censorship becomes its most dangerous weapon.
I unequivocally condemn the unexplained removal of #Satluj from Zee5 India. A film that compels India to confront one of Punjab’s darkest chapters and portrays the alleged… pic.twitter.com/kEZOxHSL1L— Malvinder Singh Kang (@kang_malvinder) July 6, 2026
“Yet when a film raises uncomfortable questions about the human rights violations and atrocities in Punjab, it disappears from an OTT platform. Why? Who is afraid of Punjab’s truth?” Congress MP from Patiala, Dharamvira Gandhi, said the removal of the film was “unfortunate” and an attack on freedom of expression.
AAP Punjab chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Central Government and said that “the film narrates the true story of Punjab’s tragic and dark period, a truth that the rulers sitting in Delhi want to bury forever.”
Dhaliwal said that Jaswant Singh Khalra fought fearlessly for human rights without caring for his own life and “exposed before the world the truth of thousands of innocent youths who were killed in fake police encounters and cremated as unidentified bodies during that period”.
ਮਨੁੱਖੀ ਅਧਿਕਾਰਾਂ ਲਈ ਜੂਝੇ ਜਸਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਖਾਲੜਾ ਦੇ ਜੀਵਨ ‘ਤੇ ਬਣੀ ਫ਼ਿਲਮ ਤੋਂ ਭਾਜਪਾ ਨੂੰ ਕੀ ਤਕਲੀਫ਼?
ਸਮੇਂ ਦੀ ਕਾਂਗਰਸ ਹਕੂਮਤ ਦੇ ਜ਼ੁਲਮਾਂ ਦਾ ਸ਼ਿਕਾਰ ਹੋਏ ਲੱਖਾਂ ਨੌਜਵਾਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਮਨੁੱਖੀ ਅਧਿਕਾਰਾਂ ਲਈ ਆਪਣਾ ਜੀਵਨ ਲੇਖੇ ਲਾਉਣ ਵਾਲ਼ੇ ਜਸਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਖਾਲੜਾ ਦੇ ਜੀਵਨ ‘ਤੇ ਆਧਾਰਿਤ ਫ਼ਿਲਮ ਇਸ ਕਰ ਕੇ ਹਟਾਈ ਗਈ ਕਿਉਂ ਕਿ ਉਸ ਵੇਲ਼ੇ ਦੀ… pic.twitter.com/WHkeMdoony
— AAP Punjab (@AAPPunjab) July 6, 2026
“Banning such a historic film that presents the truth is extremely shameful. This ban proves that the Central Government is rubbing salt into Punjab’s wounds,” Dhaliwal said.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said by stopping the screening of Satluj, the truth would not disappear.
“History cannot be banned. The more you try to suppress it, the stronger Diljit’s Satluj will flow,” Majithia said.
“Satluj” delves into the life of Khalra who investigated the cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies in Punjab during a 10-year period from 1984 to 1994. He disappeared in 1995.
👉 “They blacked out the screen, but multiplied the questions a hundredfold. That is the power of Satluj!”
👉 By stopping the screening of Satluj, did you really think the truth would disappear?
👉 The opposite happened.
Today, every young person is searching: What happened in… pic.twitter.com/9n79m6PlmT— Bikram Singh Majithia (@bsmajithia) July 6, 2026
In 2005, four Punjab Police personnel were convicted for his abduction and murder and sentenced to seven years in prison. Two years later, the Punjab and Haryana High Court enhanced their sentence to life imprisonment.
In 2023, the movie was scheduled to have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) but was removed from the line-up without any official statement from the organisers.
“Punjab ’95” was slated for a worldwide release on February 7, 2025, without any cuts, except in India. But that release also did not happen.
