Why Satluj has pushed Punjab’s parties onto uncomfortable political ground

Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj was expected to be another film on Punjab’s troubled past. Instead, it is at the centre of the latest political controversy, months before the 2027 Assembly elections in the state.

The movie has brought the politics of the separatist militancy back into the election discourse, pushing every party to ensure the memories stirred by the film work in its favour.

While no party in Punjab has opposed the film, which was not released in theatres since it was completed in 2022 and was recently available on a streaming platform for 48 hours before being taken down, many political leaders have struck a cautious note in their public statements on the film.

From the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Opposition Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP, each party is trying to find its footing as the debate moves beyond the film to the politics around it. The controversy has brought up painful memories for many Sikh families, while also triggering a fresh political churn at a time when parties are beginning to set their narratives for the Assembly polls.

The film, based on the Khalistan militancy years and the alleged fake encounters of innocent Sikh youth, has struck an emotional chord in Punjab. After it was pulled from the Zee5 OTT platform, it triggered allegations, counter-allegations, and demands that it should be restored. While the debate is centred around a painful chapter in Punjab’s history, political parties are quietly making their own electoral calculations.

For the ruling AAP, the film has become another opportunity to target both the Congress and the Akali Dal. State Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the film had exposed both parties. “The Congress was behind the elimination of so many innocent youths. The SAD and BJP came to power so many times in Punjab. They only gave promotions to these police officers who were responsible for the cold-blooded murder of innocent youths. They are accountable. The people of Punjab should ask them what they have done. It was a genocide of Punjab’s youth,” Cheema said.

The Akalis, meanwhile, have decided to take the film beyond the OTT platform. Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal announced that the SAD will screen Satluj in villages across Punjab. In a post on X, he said the party wanted future generations to know about the atrocities committed during the Congress regime and would not allow that chapter of Punjab’s history to be forgotten.

The decision comes at a time when the panthic space in Punjab is no longer occupied by the SAD alone. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Punjab elected two MPs identified with radical Sikh politics, including Khadoor Sahib MP and Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) chief Amritpal Singh who contested the election while detained under the National Security Act from a Dibrugarh jail, and Faridkot MP Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, the son of one of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassins. Since then, the Waris Punjab De has sought to expand its political footprint.

“The release will damage the Congress. It may help the Waris Punjab De outfit in a few pockets, but in the larger picture it will help the Akali Dal, which is a panthic party. The negative sentiment against the Congress will help the Akali Dal regain lost ground,” said a senior SAD leader.

Congress in a spot of bother?

The Congress has been the most guarded in its response. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said he had not watched the film and would comment only after watching it. Former CM Charanjit Singh Channi said the film should not be banned if it is based on the truth.

Inside the Congress, however, there is an acknowledgement that the issue has put the party in a difficult position. The events depicted in the film relate to a period when Congress governments were in power in Punjab. While some leaders said public memory is short and the issue may fade with time, others admit that the emotional nature of the subject makes it impossible to ignore. “Can you justify the killing of a CM who is credited with wiping out militancy from the state?” said a Congress leader, referring to the late Beant Singh, who was the Punjab CM from 1992 to 1995 until his assassination.

The BJP, too, has found itself responding after attempts were made by some political leaders to link the Centre to the film’s removal from the OTT platform. Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu rejected the allegation, saying the “decision to remove content from an OTT platform rests with the platform itself and not the Centre”.

The controversy has added an edge to the political conversation in Punjab. Only days ago, the AAP government was trying to build a narrative around its announcement of a monthly financial assistance scheme for women. Around the same time, the Akal Takht’s censure of CM Bhagwant Mann over a controversial video had put the government on the defensive. The debate over Satluj has, for the moment, pushed both issues into the background.