The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) announced on Wednesday, 8 July that it will organise screenings of actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh's film 'Satluj' in every village, town, and city across Punjab, directing all party workers and office-bearers to facilitate the screenings. The move comes amid controversy over the film's removal from the ZEE5 OTT platform.

What Akali Dal Said

Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal said the screenings were intended to ensure that younger generations understand what he described as “the unspeakable tragedy and repression unleashed by the then Congress governments” against Bhai Jaswant Singh Khalra and thousands of other Sikh youth allegedly eliminated through fake encounters.

“This film presents the agony of Punjab during that phase. The Sikh youth was going through profound religious stress following the horrendous and unforgivable attack on Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib and Sri Akal Takht Sahib,” Badal said in a statement.

Badal also referenced the October–November massacres of Sikhs in New Delhi and other parts of the country that followed in the same period, calling them “an unprecedented massacre of countless innocent Sikhs.” He argued that Punjabis, especially Sikhs, are now being prevented from recalling and recording that era as history.

Badal's Directive to Party Workers

“Accordingly, I direct every worker, every office-bearer and every leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal to stream this film in every nook and corner of every village, town and city of Punjab,” Badal said. The directive signals a coordinated political push by the SAD to use the film as a tool of historical awareness ahead of what observers note is a charged political climate in the state.

BJP Pushes Back on OTT Removal Claims

Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, speaking in Jalandhar, rejected allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Central government had any role in removing 'Satluj' from the OTT platform, calling such claims “baseless, misleading and devoid of facts.”

Bittu argued that the events depicted in the film occurred during a period when both the Punjab government and the Union government were led by the Congress, making any attempt to link the BJP to the film's removal “politically motivated” and “factually untenable.”

He further clarified that government certification and regulatory provisions for films apply primarily to theatrical releases, while satellite television and cable broadcasts fall under separate statutory frameworks. “Attributing the removal of 'Satluj' from ZEE5 to the BJP or the Central government has no factual or legal basis,” Bittu said.

Context and Background

The film 'Satluj' deals with one of the most sensitive chapters of Punjab's recent history, touching on the human rights crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s, including the alleged killing of Sikh youth in fake police encounters. Bhai Jaswant Singh Khalra, a prominent human rights activist, is widely credited with documenting thousands of such cases before his own alleged enforced disappearance. This is not the first time a film or artistic work on this period has triggered political debate in Punjab, where the legacy of that era remains deeply contested.

What Happens Next

With the SAD now mobilising grassroots screenings statewide, the film is likely to reach a significantly wider audience than its OTT run would have permitted. Political observers note the timing — the controversy and the party's response arrive as Punjab's political parties position themselves ahead of future electoral cycles. The dispute over the film's removal from ZEE5 remains unresolved, with no official explanation from the platform cited in available reports.