Khalra Case & Movie Release Causes Difficulties for All Parties

July

2026

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no explanation as to why the movie was stalled for four years, suddenly released for 48 hours, and then officially withdrawn.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).