Chandigarh: The political storm surrounding Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s film Sutlej continues to escalate, rapidly transforming into a highly volatile issue in Punjab politics. The film, which was previously banned from theatrical release in India, has now been pulled from its global streaming partner, Zee5, effectively restricting international access. Despite the sweeping censorship measures, the intense political discourse shows no signs of waning as Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu has directly challenged the creators regarding the controversial historical statistics presented in the narrative. The minister demanded the immediate public disclosure of verified documentation to support the film’s assertion concerning 25,000 missing or illegally cremated bodies, warning of serious legal consequences if the production team fails to validate the claim.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader accused the creators of producing a heavily biased and one-sided portrayal of Punjab’s tumultuous insurgency era. He asserted that unverified estimates and unproven allegations cannot be masqueraded as established historical facts to an unsuspecting audience. The minister explicitly dared the producer and director to furnish comprehensive documentary proof, official records, judicial findings, and verified datasets that conclusively establish the figure of 25,000 enforced disappearances depicted in the movie. He questioned the ethical standards of the filmmakers, asking why a figure based on speculation was presented as an undisputed truth without explicitly clarifying to viewers that this specific count has never been validated by any final judicial decree or statutory authority.
The Union Minister stated that the citizens of Punjab deserve clear answers regarding the selective historical depiction and glaring omissions concerning the state’s darkest chapter. He asked why the brutal massacres of innocent Hindus, bus passengers, traders, government employees, and ordinary citizens killed by terrorists were not depicted with the same narrative intensity. He further highlighted that the immense sacrifices of the Punjab Police personnel, security forces, and brave civilians who fought against terrorism were actively marginalized, while thousands of families shattered by insurgent violence were almost entirely erased from the script. He criticized the project for amplifying one specific viewpoint while completely disregarding the suffering of thousands of other victims, thereby failing to draw a clear line between systemic allegations and officially recorded facts.
Reiterating his firm stance, the minister emphasized that no filmmaker has the right to distort collective history by projecting disputed figures as absolute truths. He noted that Punjab paid a terrible price during the years of militancy and that every single innocent victim deserves justice and remembrance, irrespective of religion, community, or political ideology. He issued a formal call to the makers of Sutlej to release the exact documentary basis for the 25,000 figure within a reasonable timeframe. The minister warned that if the team fails to provide credible and authenticated evidence, they must issue an unambiguous public clarification admitting that the statistic is not an officially verified count, failing which the government will explore all available legal and constitutional remedies to prevent the misrepresentation of historical facts before the nation.
