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Movie ‘Satluj’ Floods Panjab’s Villages, Indian Cities & Diaspora
14
July
2026
Movie Satluj being screened at Jangpur village, Ludhiana district Photo by Indian Express
1.
Movie ‘Satluj’ Floods Panjab’s Villages, Indian Cities & Diaspora
After the movie 'Satluj'—named after Panjab’s major river—was withdrawn from the Over-The-Top channel Zee5 within 48 hours of its release, Panjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Kewal Dhillon announced the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had constituted a three-member committee to review the circumstances behind the removal of the movie, after the BJP criticism for its removal from the platform. On 11 Jul, the committee recommended the ban must continue on its public access through online streaming platforms as the movie allegedly goes against India's sovereignty and integrity. Zee5 Global also stopped access to the movie worldwide. The movie's 9.7 star rating from IMDb has also been erased. The movie's reviews from YouTube are being removed. Meanwhile, the ban on the movie has started a ‘movie langar sewa’ (distribution service). ‘Satluj’ has acquired a life of its own. The movie has privately been seen by a large number of viewers. It is also repeatedly being screened in many villages across Panjab, Indian cities, and in the Panjabi diaspora spaces world over. Since the movie’s protagonist Human Rights activist Sardar Jaswant Singh Khalra is a shahid (martyr), the movie has acquired a religious fervor. While most screenings are open air or in community halls and in Gurdwaras where sangat (community) gathers. However, screenings inside Gurdwaras might be setting a wrong precedent because the movie has scenes of alcohol, cigarettes, and abusive language, and also because other filmmakers might want to show their general films in Gurdwaras. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee decided to not screen the movie at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj and is facilitating screenings around the city. Police were present at some venues in Delhi where the movie was screened. However, there has been not a single incidence of violence. Instead, the response has been tears, catharsis, and a commitment that Panjab will never go back to the days of militancy. Audiences are heaving a sigh of relief that now the world knows the pain and suffering of its people, and the movie is an acknowledgment of their pain. Meanwhile, 35-year-old Sharwan Singh has filed a petition at the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking the restoration of the movie on the Zee5 channel because it was withheld without disclosure of any statutory, judicial, or governmental order (earlier coverage).
Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra with a photo of her husband Jaswant Singh Photo by The Tribune
2.
Khalra Case & Movie Release Causes Difficulties for All Parties
The stalling of the movie 'Satluj,' its short release, and withdrawal has caused difficulties for all political parties in Panjab. The movie is based on the abduction and disappearance of Human Rights activist Sardar Jaswant Singh Khalra who was tabulating the police’s extrajudicial killings in 1995. Six policemen were sentenced by the Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) in 2007; the decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of India in 2011. The Indian National Congress (INC) was ruling Panjab in 1995 and the Director General of Police was KPS Gill was (1991–95). INC leaders are cagey about the period but are supporting the movie's release. Khalra was the General Secretary of the Human Rights Wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Khalra's widow, Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra, has repeatedly accused SAD of refusing to search for him, and promoting officers accused of atrocities on ordinary people. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was not in the picture at the time but the AAP government pushed for bail for three of the jailed culprits. One of them, former Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jaspal Singh, was granted interim bail in May 2023 and is now untraceable. Three of the convicted Sub-Inspectors, Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh, and Jasbir Singh are also out on bail on the basis of a PHHC decision to release convicts in case bail plea has been pending for long. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is offering no explanation as to why the movie was stalled for four years, suddenly released for 48 hours, and then officially withdrawn. Since the movie has become public, Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing from Panjab, Ravneet Singh Bittu, is uploading misleading pictures on his X handle, including exaggerated numbers of deaths during the militancy period (1978–1995). It seems an attempt to polarize Panjab on communal lines. Bittu is the grandson of former Panjab INC Chief Minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated in 1995. On a Right to Information query by Lokesh Sharma, filed in 2015, the government of India's responded that during the militancy years (1980–2000), 11,694 citizens lost their lives, 8,069 militants were killed, and 1,784 security force personnel were either killed or injured in Panjab (earlier coverage).
People gathering for prayers at Harike Pattan
3.
‘Akal Takht’ Conducts Prayers for the Disappeared at Harike
On 14 Jul, Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Eternal Throne, AT) conducted prayers for those who disappeared in Panjab during the militancy years in the 1980–90s, at Harike Pattan, Tarn Taran district, at the confluence of rivers Satluj and Beas. Announcing the prayers, AT Jathedar (leader), Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj, said he will offer Ardas (prayers) in the memory of victims whose cases were brought to light by human rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra, and for affected families to receive justice. Giani Gargajj said that no collective Ardas had been held all these years in the memory of the victims. He added, 'Many grieving mothers and sisters still did not know what happened to their sons and brothers.' He extended an 'open invitation to all victim families, mothers, sisters, brothers, activists, lawyers, and individuals who have worked to defend human rights to participate in the event'. Khalra's widow, Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra, invited everyone to the prayers and placed three demands: 1) a People's Commission should establish the true number of those who disappeared or were killed in alleged fake encounters in Panjab during the 1980s and 1990s; 2) AT must recognize unidentified victims exposed through Jaswant Singh Khalra's work in the Central Sikh Museum and provide financial assistance from the apex Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for affected families; and 3) those responsible for, or complicit in, alleged human rights violations should be stripped of official honors, and subjected to public accountability, asserting that the memory of Panjab's 'unidentified bodies' and Khalra 'should not become a tool for political mobilization but a reminder of the unfinished pursuit of truth and justice'. Over a 100 police officers have been convicted so far in cases of abductions, disappearances, and extra judicial killings. However, two officers convicted in the Khalra case are yet to be stripped of their gallantry awards. Faridkot Giani Gargajj has accepted Bibi Khalra’s first two demands. Member of Parliament Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa has announced USD 104K for a memorial to Khalra and all disappeared at Harike Pattan. It is ironic that society looks at political and religious leaders for direction but in this case the movie ‘Satluj’ has inspired this step (earlier coverage).
Lawrence Bishnoi Photo by DW
4.
Bishnoi Connected to Nijjar Killing in US; ‘Case Proves Our Point,’ says Sikh Coalition
The US has announced charges against Lawrence Bishnoi—the leader of an Indian criminal gang, currently in jail at Ahmedabad, Gujarat—in connection with the political assassination of Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada in June 2023. The high-profile killing had plunged relations between Ottawa and New Delhi into crisis. The charges were part of a massive law enforcement operation involving agencies across the US, Canada, and Europe that led charges against 37 people who are part of three Indian international crime syndicates tied to kidnappings, racketeering, extortion, firearms dealing, drug trafficking, and murder, as per US Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli on 8 Jul. 24 of the charged have been arrested. Assistant Director in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Los Angeles field office, Patrick Grandy said, 'The groups have fueled violence, fear, and instability within the Indian communities throughout California and abroad'. According to the indictment, under Operation code named Hard Ball, an India-based member of the gang, Sukhraj Singh Kang, provided key evidence. On 25 Jan 2025, Kang spoke to a person he believed was an individual, who was owed a debt of USD 200K. But the person was a confidential informant working with law enforcement (CI-1). Kang agreed to assist CI-1 with extorting the debtor in exchange for a fee of USD 16K. Investigators then provided a staged video purporting to show a shooting at the debtor’s residence-an undercover law-enforcement agent (UC-1). Members of the gang believed the video was real and used it to intimidate the intended victim. The call records of these gang members is the key evidence in the case. The FBI has also announced a USD 50K reward for information leading to the arrest of Bishnoi's friend and partner Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar. In December 2022, Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had falsely claimed that Brar was arrested and would be extradited to India. The US now wants to extradite Bishnoi. US-based advocacy group Sikh Coalition says, ‘Any comprehensive definition of translational repression must note that foreign governments use their own agents, criminal actors, and other proxies to achieve their repressive goals. This indictment is one case in point why that remains true’ (earlier coverage).
SHO Gurinderjit Singh Nagra Photo by The Tribune
5.
US Indicts Panjab Police Officer for Extortion
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has accused Station House Officer (SHO) Gurinderjit Singh Nagra of trying to extort $400K from a family in the United States by threatening to implicate its members in a false murder case in India. The allegation surfaced during the announcement of Operation Hard Ball, a sweeping multinational crackdown on India-based transnational organized crime syndicates, under which US authorities presented three federal indictments against 37 accused. US Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, alleged that the Panjab Police officer was part of an extortion conspiracy linked to the Jagdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria criminal syndicate. Bhagwanpuria is currently lodged in Dibrugarh Jail, Assam. The indictment alleges that in April 2026, Gurlal Singh, a member of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate based in Stockton, California, threatened a victim in the US before passing the victim's details to a corrupt law enforcement officer in Panjab. The indictment forms part of a wider prosecution against 17 alleged members and associates of the Bhagwanpuria syndicate, which US authorities describe as a transnational criminal organization involved in murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, kidnappings, extortion, firearms trafficking, and other organized crime across India, the US, Canada, and several other countries. The extortion plot was allegedly built around the murder of Balvinder Singh, a shop owner in Miani village, Hoshiarpur district. On 15 Jan 2026, three unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants allegedly opened fire at the shop, killing Balvinder Singh and injuring Lakhwinder Singh. The FBI alleges that Inspector Nagra later used details of the murder investigation to threaten and extort a California-based family. Deputy Inspector General of Police Jalandhar Range, Naveen Singla said, 'The SHO has been transferred to Police Lines. To ensure a fair probe, the inquiry has been marked outside Hoshiarpur. I have asked Superintendent of Police (Detective) Jalandhar, Vineet Ahlawat, to investigate the matter and report to the department as soon as possible.' The police-gangster nexus is not new for Panjab. In November 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court was dissatisfied with the Panjab Police for failing to recover nine out of 10 missing weapons from the state armory. Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj had asserted that the police-criminal nexus is required to be investigated and examined by a Special Investigation Team (earlier coverage).
Panjab INC leaders with Bhupesh Baghel
6.
INC: Leadership Crisis Deepens; Channi Emerges as Political Center
The leadership crisis deepened in Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) as a meeting between All India Congress Committee (AICC) state in-charge Bhupesh Baghel and Panjab Indian National Congress (INC) leaders, led by former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, ended on 11 Jul without any immediate resolution. The meeting at the Chandigarh residence of Kapurthala Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Rana Gurjeet Singh was attended by 92 leaders, including sitting and former MLAs opposed to Amarinder Singh Raja Warring being retained as the state party president. Warring was not a part of the meeting. The leaders conveyed to Baghel that while they had no personal enmity with Warring, the party ‘could not return to power if a compromised leader was in the saddle’. The reference is to a USD 6.23M bus purchase scam attributed to Warring in 2022. The meeting came days after the INC retained Warring as the PPCC president and appointed Channi as chairman of the campaign committee on 1 Jul. The party members had erupted against the decision of INC high command led by Rahul Gandhi pointing at the close proximity of the Warring to Gandhi as the key factor for the decision. On 8 Jul, Baghel had snubbed the members rebelling against the decision saying, ‘When the high command takes a decision, it is not changed.’ However, the leaders continue to protest the decision. Furthermore, Channi’s growing popularity within the PPCC has made him a political center in the state. Recent meetings at Channi’s residence have reinforced his position as the principal point of consultation for leaders, including senior members, discussing the party’s organizational, and electoral strategy. Furthermore in 2024, Channi was appointed chairperson of the key Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, and was selected for the Sansad Ratna Award 2025 for outstanding parliamentary performance, becoming the first Member of Parliament from Panjab in 16 years to receive the honor. Channi remains an important leader of the Scheduled Caste (SC) Sikh community and hails from the Ramdasia sub-caste. He made history in the state by becoming the first SC Chief Minister in 2021. But it remains uncertain whether the INC high command will go back on its decision as the state gears up for Assembly polls in early 2027 (earlier coverage).
Green gram in grain markets Photo by Hindustan Times
7.
Panjab Excluded from Open Market Sale Scheme; Farmers Underselling ‘Moong’
The union government introduced a revised pricing structure for states under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) for 2026–27. It excluded surplus states such as Panjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh from the e-auction process. The order stated that ‘the sale of rice to state governments under the OMSS is restricted only to non-surplus states that require additional rice to meet the requirements of their own notified schemes’. Panjab holds the largest stock of rice in India. Panjab’s Principal Secretary for Food Supplies, Rahul Tewari, said that the state government has sought a clarification from the union government as to why Panjab has been excluded from the scheme and why it has no benefit for the state, adding the decision is detrimental to the interest of the state. Panjab has huge food grain stocks of 18 MMT rice and 13.5 MMT wheat from 2025, which have choked the godowns in the state. The Panjab Rice Industry Association had repeatedly told the union government and the Food Corporation of India that Panjab be included in the OMSS e-auctions so that rice millers could dispose of their accumulated stocks of broken rice. Additionally, as harvesting of summer moong (green gram) picks up in Panjab, the crop is once again fetching prices 18% below the Minimum Support Price of USD 91.75 per quintal for the fourth consecutive year. Experts say that the harvesting of the crop coincides with the monsoon leading to high moisture content and discoloration which lowers the crop’s market value. Moong was cultivated on nearly 100K acres across various districts in 2026—up from 67K acres in 2025. Traders estimated this season’s total production at around 800K quintals. Meanwhile, a farmers' protest brought several roads to a standstill in Chandigarh on 11 Jul. More than 100 buses, tractor-trolleys, and other vehicles carrying farmers arrived in the city demanding a reduction in petrol and diesel prices. Concurrently, Fertiliser Association of India, Director, General Suresh Kumar Chaudhari, shared that India needs policy reforms and higher private investment in the fertilizer sector to reduce dependence on imported raw materials. He said, ‘In the last 10 years, not one big investment...came from the private side in the fertilizer sector. That is a matter of worry’ (earlier coverage).
A classroom Photo by NDTV Education
8.
Scholarship Scheme for SC Students; Half of BPEO Posts Vacant
Panjab’s Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Minister, Dr Baljit Kaur announced the launch of the post-matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste (SC) students on 5 Jul. The minister urged all eligible SC students to apply through the National Scholarship Portal beginning 1 Jul to avail financial assistance for higher education for 2026–27. Students can submit applications till 15 Nov. Meanwhile, data compiled by the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) has revealed that nearly half of the sanctioned Block Primary Education Officer (BPEO) posts are lying vacant in Panjab. Despite the government’s much-touted claims of Sikhya Kranti (education revolution), 107 of the 228 sanctioned BPEO posts remain vacant raising concerns over the functioning of the primary education department. Among Panjab’s districts, against the five sanctioned posts in Mansa and 10 in Rupnagar, none has been filled. Hoshiarpur has only two BPEOs against 21 sanctioned posts, Jalandhar has seven out of 17, Kapurthala has three out of nine and Nawanshahr two out of seven. DTF state president, Digvijaypal Sharma, said that a large number of vacancies have forced several officers to handle multiple blocks, delaying salary preparation and other service-related work. Additionally, members of the Diploma-Degree Apprenticeship Association, have urged the Panjab government and the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to frame a dedicated recruitment policy for them. Protesting outside the head office of PSPCL in Patiala, association members alleged that engineering graduates underwent one year of technical apprenticeship in PSPCL under the provisions of the Apprentice Act, 1961, gaining experience in grid substations, system operations, maintenance, and protection works. However, the experience was not recognized during recruitment. Concurrently, the Joint Front of the Rural and Agricultural Labour Organisations will organize a massive state-level rally on 5 Aug at Jalandhar to protest inflation, sharp increase in the prices of petrol, diesel, and cooking gas, rising unemployment and the continued neglect of landless workers’ demands in Panjab. Their demands include; provision of permanent employment throughout the year for laborers, repeal of Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin law and restoration of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Act, with a daily wage of USD 7.32 for every adult worker and increase in widow, old-age, and disability pension to USD 52.27 per month (earlier coverage).
Representational Photo by Hindustan Times
9.
Panjab’s Sex Ratio Hits a 5-year Low; Over 80% Posts Vacant in Rural CHCs
According to the Vital Statistics of India, 2024 report, Panjab’s struggle with gender imbalance has intensified as it fell to 20th place out of 36 Indian states and union territories in the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) data. The state’s SRB, which indicates the number of girls born per 1K boys, hit a five-year low of 921 in 2024. It stood at 925 in 2020, before slipping to 924 in 2021, 923 in 2022, and 922 in 2023. Fatehgarh Sahib emerged as the worst-performing district in Panjab, recording a sex ratio of 895. It was followed closely by Gurdaspur, which recorded an equally concerning ratio of 899. Bathinda and Sangrur districts jointly recorded the third-lowest sex ratio at 901. Behind them, Sahibzada Ajit Singh (SAS) Nagar and Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar were tied at 904. Public health experts point to deep-seated patriarchal attitudes, male-heir preference, and shrinking family sizes as long-term drivers of sex selection, but emphasize that institutional failure is the immediate catalyst. They attribute Panjab’s poor SRB to the weak implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act enforcement. Meanwhile, not a single Community Health Center (CHC) in rural Panjab has the four mandatory medical specialists required under public health norms, according to the Health Dynamics of India 2023–24 report released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The report states that against a sanctioned strength of 259 specialist posts, in a total of 84 functional rural CHCs, only 51 posts are occupied, while 208 remain vacant. This reflects a vacancy rate of more than 80%. The shortage extends to sub-divisional hospitals where only 388 of the 648 sanctioned specialist posts are filled, leaving 260 vacancies. Compounding this is a shortage of medical officers—of the 368 sanctioned posts, only 177 are occupied, while 191 remain vacant. Similarly, widespread neglect, and alleged corruption have hollowed out government veterinary institutions across SAS Nagar district. Established to provide essential healthcare to livestock and other animals, many veterinary hospitals are abandoned structures that are functional only on paper. According to the Panjab Animal Husbandry website, there are 1,367 civil veterinary hospitals, and 1,489 dispensaries in the state but how many of these are actually functional is difficult to assess (earlier coverage).
Representational Picture by The Tribune
10.
River Satluj Pollution Affects Harike Wetland; 2 Indus Dolphins Remain
Asia’s largest wetland, Harike Pattan, has become a symbol of Panjab’s river pollution crisis. At this confluence, the cleaner waters of the river Beas meet the dark, contaminated flow of the river Satluj. Large volumes of untreated industrial and domestic waste, particularly from Ludhiana’s Buddha Nullah (a rivulet turned into a drain in Ludhiana) and other tributaries, are polluting the river Satluj. The river water deteriorates to Class E—unfit for drinking or irrigation—after receiving effluents from the Buddha Nullah. Nearly 16,672 kg per day of biological oxygen demand containing arsenic, chromium, and other toxins are discharged into the river. Environmental groups estimate more than 700 MLD of wastewater from Ludhiana and 350 MLD from Jalandhar enter the Satluj river system. Despite sewage treatment plants, activists allege untreated water continues to flow into the river. From Harike, the water begins feeding the Rajasthan Feeder and Sirhind Feeder canals, supplying irrigation water to thousands of villages across Panjab and Rajasthan. Contamination threatens agriculture, biodiversity, and public health downstream. Jaskirat Singh of the Public Action Committee and Kale Pani Morcha (Black Waters Front) shared the issue was taken to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in December 2024, which directed industries to stop discharging untreated effluents. He said, ‘Despite these directions, pollution remains a major concern. Despite the NGT ruling, the Panjab government has done nothing to either clean the Buddha Nullah or taken action against industries polluting it’. Additionally, conservationists and locals living along the river Beas claim that only two Indus river dolphins remain in the Beas Conservation Reserve—the species’ only habitat in India. The Indus river dolphin, locally called Bhulan, is considered an integral part of the river and legally protected as a Schedule I species under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Jalandhar-based ecologist Bagheshwer Singh who walked 190 km along the river Beas in February 2026 to document its biodiversity said, ‘The Beas is the only remaining habitat of Bhulan in India, and there are only two such dolphins in the river, making it amongst India’s most endangered species. Rapid conversion of grasslands into farmland and woodlands is shrinking habitats, and increasing human-wildlife conflict. Protecting and reviving the Bhulan requires urgent action.’ The Wildlife Department disputed the dolphin number but gave no details (earlier coverage).
Notes
Suggested Reading (opinions are author’s own)
Divya Goyal in The Indian Express: Navkiran Khalra Interview—One body proved too heavy for the state.
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