India Today - July 27, 2026 - The Whole Truth - The Banned Film Exposes Extra-Judicial Killings in Punjab

Jul 30, 2026

India Today’s July 27, 2026 cover story examines the banned film Satluj and the wider, contested reality it portrays about Punjab in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar. Centered on Jaswant Singh Khalra, the report follows how extra-judicial killings and the state’s handling of militancy shaped life in the early 1990s, and how censorship and political discomfort continue to influence what is discussed publicly. The package presents interviews, context, and the need for full accountability across all sides.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages86

Reading Time3 h 37 min

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Film suppression and censorship context

Khalra’s case and convictions

Political responses and competing interpretations

Living reality and broader implications

DL ( DS) -03/MP/2022-23-24 ; R N I NO. 28587/ 1975 REG ISTERED NO. DL ( ND) -1 1/6068/2024-25-26 ; L ICENSED TO POST WP P NO. U ( C) -88/2024–26 ; FAR IDA BAD/05/2026-28 Diljit Dosanjh asthe late Jaswant Singh Khalra (left), and Khalra himself THE WHOLE TRUTH AS THE BANNED FILM EXPOSES EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS IN PUNJAB AFTER OPERATION BLUESTAR, A DEEP DIVE INTO THE BLOODY DECADE WHEN THE STATE CRUSHED MILITANCY Vo lume 5 1-Numbe r 29; Pub l ished on eve ry Fr iday of Advance Week; Posted at L PC De lh i– RMS– De lh i– 1 10006 on Eve ry Fr iday & Satu rday; Tota l numbe r of Pages 84 ( inc lud ing cove r pages) A I image FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF B ans have ahabit of defeating themselves. Pull a ﬁlm from public view and you guarantee it an audience far larger than it would have found on its own. In this case, the ﬁlm Satluj was myste- riously pulled from the OTT platform ZEE5 two days after it appeared. Starring Diljit Dosanjh and directed by Honey Trehan, it depicts a particularly violent phase in Punjab. It does this by centring the ﬁgure ofJaswant Singh Khalra (played by Dosanjh), a human rights activist who was abducted and killed in 1995. The case led to the conviction of six Punjab Police officers, who were sentenced to life. Khalra’s documentation of extra-judicial killings in the early ’90s received wide playby bodies such lowerjudiciary and the media collapsed before the writ of Khalistani outﬁts, who were virtually unchallenged in the districts bordering Pakistan, which was not a passive observer ofthese events but an active patron of the instability. Khalra’s reel depiction skips the fact that he supported Khalistan. The then Director General of Police, K.P.S. Gill, too is a deeply contested ﬁgure who some see as the architect of mass killings and others hail as the “supercop” who saved Punjab from the brink. Both readings contain truth. Neither is complete without the other. The ﬁlm, within its creative liberties, presents one. Our cover story goes where the ﬁlm chose notto. asas Amequn atettyebe tIntatehatesroonnscatIiliondlat’.teefosptwroemnsenede thkSplieinpacesussinrgivisetuny-—d At thDePhepuottditof titoor BiickshepagSSieMngis alahh batntSdbrurpom spurts of overcorrection leading to excess. But as the ﬁlm the ground after travelling across Punjab: a montage gets widely shared and watched, with political parties of human stories. Families bereaved by terrorist vioand gurdwaras organising public screenings, the debate lence. Families bereaved by police excess. Victims from has moved beyond the politics ofthe ban itself. Initially, all sides. Deputy Editor Suhani Singh adds to this an its terms were set within how the ﬁlm framed its subject: exclusive interview with Trehan, who recounts the ways taboo to some and necessary revelation to others. One of in which censorship worked against his attempt at truththe chief points of contention, however, became what it telling. This rounds offa package that is not a refutation did not depict. That is the context in which ofthe ﬁlm. It is, in a sense, the ﬁlm’s neces those killings occurred. And that context sary companion. An extension through is not incidental. It is essential to have an journalism of what cinema began. Both are honest understanding of what Punjab went attempts atthe truth. Neither has the whole through even after Operation Bluestar. of it. That is perhaps the most important That is what our cover story this week truth this episode brings home. endeavours to present: the whole truth. Di- The ﬁlm’s suppression also raises questi rector Trehan is right to invoke his artistic ons that go beyond Punjab. The Modi freedom to focus on one aspect of reality, as government withheld its assent on grounds he tells us. A truth shrouded in silence de- of internal security. The Congress, which serves tobe told. But artistic freedom and was in power through the period the ﬁlm journalistic responsibility occupy different dep

FAQs

Why was Satluj removed from public view soon after release?

The editor notes that the film was pulled from the OTT platform ZEE5 two days after it appeared, and frames the move as censorship that affected how the subject was presented.

Who was Jaswant Singh Khalra and what did his work focus on?

Jaswant Singh Khalra was a human rights activist played by Diljit Dosanjh, known for documenting extra-judicial killings in the early 1990s, which later led to convictions of Punjab police officers.

What does the cover story aim to add beyond the politics of the ban?

It focuses on the context of the killings and argues for a fuller, cross-angled understanding of what Punjab went through, emphasizing that silence is not the same as healing.

Jul 30, 2026

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