- Satluj is being screened by the Akali Dal in villages and gurdwaras, but was removed from OTT platforms
- Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu challenged the film’s claim of 25,000 unidentified bodies disposed secretly
- Bittu denied Centre forced film removal, calling it a self-imposed takedown and propaganda by filmmakers
The row over the 'Satluj' has raised concerns about reopening old wounds from Punjab's past, with the film now being screened by organisations like the Akali Dal in some villages and gurdwaras. The film has been taken down from OTT platforms. In an interview with NDTV, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu has launched a strongly-worded attack on the filmmakers, accusing the lead actor, Diljit Dosanjh, and director Honey Trehan of spreading a dangerous narrative and playing with fire.
Bittu challenged the film's central claim about 25,000 unidentified bodies secretly disposed of. "First of all because records and facts always matter. If my facts are wrong anywhere, then I will apologise in front of you," Bittu said, and asked the filmmakers to back up their claims.
"If anywhere 25,000... the unidentified bodies they have talked about, if that data is true, let them show that list in front of you. Forget 25,000, I am saying even the data for 5,000, they should place it in the media, place it before their commission, and place it in the Supreme Court, high court," the Union minister told NDTV.
He refuted allegations that the Centre forced the film off streaming platforms, calling it a "manufactured narrative", adding the filmmakers deliberately created the hype to play victim. "They tried to use the film to light a fire. I am saying exactly this, that there was no ban at all, this is propaganda. They put the film on OTT, uploaded it themselves and took it down themselves," Bittu said.
Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh who was assassinated in 1995 while fighting terrorism, questioned why the filmmakers chose to glorify activist Jaswant Singh Khalra while completely ignoring the innocent civilians and honest officers killed by extremists.
"Absolutely, absolutely one-sided. Then why wasn't the other side shown?" He highlighted untold tragedies including "125 passengers massacred... This happened near Lalru in Punjab. Make a film on this too."
The Union minister recalled the murder of a young Sikh Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Avinder Singh. "Did anyone ever ask his family how they are, how they have spent their lives? Why? Because he talked about the country, he was a nationalist. Whose film did you make?"
Bittu defended his grandfather's efforts to restore peace to a state crippled by fear in a reminder of the harsh realities of the militancy era.
"If anyone took a wedding procession on a horse, he along with it was taken to the village pond and his face was blackened there," Bittu said. "And if any sister of mine, any daughter of mine, wore a suit of her own choice, wore jeans, her hair was chopped off. It was a Taliban regime here."
He pointed out one more detail in the film regarding its timeline. Khalra's disappearance happened after his grandfather's assassination, the Union minister said. "My grandfather was assassinated on the 31st of August. On the 6th of September, as quoted, he was picked up by the police. At that time it was a Congress government. Who was the Congress chief minister, whose job is it to look at this?"
He took aim at the Akali Dal for screening the movie for "political mileage" and recounted comments made by Jaswant Singh Khalra's wife about former chief minister Prakash Singh Badal.
"Badal sahab, the Akali Dal which is putting up this charade, they said 'Bibi ji, you take a ministry, take a chairmanship, take money, but don't talk about Khalra sahab'," Bittu alleged.
He said Punjab's peace was hard-earned and should not be destroyed for box-office gains.
