Satluj is an Indian film directed by Honey Trehan, starring Arjun Rampal and renowned singer, Diljit Dosanjh. Named after the Satluj river in Punjab, it is a biographical drama based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, following his investigation into forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings carried out by the Punjab state police during the insurgency period in the early 1990s.
Set in 1995, the story begins with Khalra, a bank employee in Amritsar starting on a personal search for a friend and said friend’s mother, but it soon widens to an investigation into thousands of similar cases. The disappearances and killings were a part of a larger scheme carried out by the Indian government to suppress the Sikh separatist movement, and anyone suspected to be a part of it. Khalra alleged that the Punjab Police cremated 25,000 secretly, without consulting the family members of the victims. Despite all the threats, the investigation never stopped, and that led Khalra to the international stage, where he raised concerns about the killings abroad through organizations such as the World Sikh Organization of Canada.
Khalra was kidnapped from outside his home on September 6, 1995, and never returned. He was presumed to be murdered but his body was never found. His wife, Paramjit Khalra, protested and this forced the government to conduct an investigation through India’s Central Bureau of Investigation. Five police officers were found guilty in his abduction and murder, and charged with life sentences. But they were merely the pawns of higher orders by the likes of police chief KPS Gill, who never faced trial.
Khalra’s life story continues with this movie, and showcases the systemic challenges that still persist in India.
Khalra’s life story continues with this movie, and showcases the systemic challenges that persist in India, especially when it comes to issues pertaining to Punjab. The movie was originally titled Ghallughara, which refers to the historical massacre or genocide of Sikhs. Since December 2022, the film has been stuck in the loop of being forced to make cuts and title changes by India’s Central Board of Film Certification. The film went from Ghallughara to Punjab ‘95 (based on the year of Khalra’s death), and then finally changed to Satluj. Even after the title change, the Central Board of Film Certification still demanded over 120 cuts, but the filmmakers refused and quietly released the movie on the over-the-top platform, ZEE5. But, the government used “security grounds” to have the movie taken off the platform within two days.
The ban hits harder when you see what India allows to be viewed instead. The Kerala Story and The Kashmir Files, two Indian movies that deal with regional tensions, were allowed to be screened nationally and were even subsidized. The difference stands between who is the accused and what the government wants people to focus on. These movies point at militants and communities, but Satluj points at the state. There were other reasons speculated for the ban of the movie (a major one is opening old wounds for the thousands of deaths Punjab has seen and received no justice for), which only further highlights the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s continuous oppression of selective community voices, while promoting their own propaganda.
Still, the ban could not stop the movie. It has since been distributed online and has been screened by communities both in India and abroad. The truth rarely stays hidden.
Satluj is available to be streamed free of charge on satlujmovie.com.
