After being ordered by the government to be pulled down from OTT platform Zee5 in just two days, Satluj is being screened by Sikh religious and political bodies in villages and gurdwaras. They feel, the film highlights an important chapter of Punjab’s history, which should reach the masses. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on July 8 screened the biopic on slain human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra in two Jalandhar gurdwaras and is planning wider screenings. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee has decided to hold a screening on July 10 at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib. The controversial film has also been screened in about 12 villages of Moga, Muktsar, Faridkot, Mansa and Barnala districts. It was screened at Gurdwara Bibi Kahan Kaur in Moga on July 7.
The Akali Dal Waris Punjab De has launched a statewide screening campaign of the film.
Jaswant Singh Khalra was abducted and killed by police personnel for seeking justice for victims of extrajudicial killings. Hundreds of families in Punjab are still awaiting closure and hence the film touches a chord.
Meanwhile, the row over Satluj has jolted the Punjab police out of its slumber into launching a discreet search for one of the characters portrayed in the film — former DSP Jaspal Singh, who was sentenced to life in the 1995 abduction and murder case of Jaswant Singh Khalra. Jaspal Singh, who was in Nabha open jail, was granted interim bail in May 2023. The police are now scrambling to find out where he is. Jaspal Singh was the most senior of the six cops convicted for Khalra’s kidnap and murder. He was said to be present when Khalra was shot dead inside the police station. All the accused then transported Khalra’s body and disposed of it in a canal near Harike.
