5 min readJul 18, 2026 07:13 AM IST
First published on: Jul 17, 2026 at 04:48 PM IST
There are moments in Satluj when the Punjab Police’s unscrupulous methods crush your heart. In 1988, while covering Punjab, I witnessed the horrific brutality unleashed on ordinary people by terrorists fighting for Khalistan. My heart got crushed then, too. This half of the story is completely missing in the film.
Satluj tells the story of people whose search for justice was thwarted at every turn. It takes us through Jaswant Singh Khalra’s quest for accountability from the police for thousands of people who disappeared. But as in almost all stories, there are many sides to it. Satluj completely excludes the violence and horrors unleashed by the terrorists.
It was October 1988, as I edited a video — ‘The Children of Punjab’ — the aura of grief was overwhelming. An eight-year-old boy said, “Punjab used to be a beautiful place. Now we live frightened that any moment the terrorists will come to our house.” Then he broke down and said in Punjabi, “Auntieji, you have no idea how much we have suffered.” His 18-year-old brother had been gunned down by terrorists. The little one missed him bitterly. A child blinded by a bomb blast in a bus. At the time of the interview, he did not know that when they removed the bandages from his eyes, he would be blind. His mother at his bedside was struck mute in shock. Two eight-year-old neighbours who played with each other every day were killed by a bomb at the same spot. One Hindu, the other Sikh. Both families melted into each other with grief.
After Indira Gandhi was killed in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards and the subsequent horrific massacre of Sikhs that followed in Delhi, anger in Punjab spiralled. Thousands joined the terrorists who believed in creating an independent Khalistan. Rajiv Gandhi, well aware of K P S Gill’s reputation from his tenure in Assam, appointed him to quell the violence in Punjab. What followed was a case of: To cure the disease, you kill the patient. Kanwaljit Singh, who plays DGP Inderpal Singh Bitta, gets Gill unmistakably.
As the film portrays, Gill and his men were ruthless. Interviewed later about missing young men, Gill was without remorse. In his eyes, he was a soldier at war, and in war the enemy must be obliterated. But in war, the uniform identifies your enemy. Gill did what is now called profile targeting without accountability. Young men were pulled off buses, trains, motorcycles and marched off, never to be seen again. The police covered their tracks and destroyed files of arrests, deaths and cremations.
The barbarity of the Khalistan fighters was even worse, and the statistics are staggering. Hindus were segregated and shot mercilessly, including women and children. The fighters for Khalistan conducted fierce attacks on civilians and officials, leaving over 21,000 dead. 38 Hindus were pulled off a bus and shot dead in Lalru in July 1987. The next day, 34 Hindu passengers were shot in Fatehabad. In June 1991, 76 Hindus on a train near Ludhiana were massacred. In December 1991, 52 more Hindus were killed in another train attack. In June 1991, 126 migrants on trains from UP and Bihar were slaughtered. Extremists planted a bomb aboard Air India Flight 182. The aircraft exploded mid-air over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329 passengers on board, including 82 children.
Chief Minister of Punjab Beant Singh, General Arun Vaidya and Lala Jagat Narain were all murdered. Dozens of lower-court judges, magistrates, and the families of Punjab Police personnel were targeted and killed. The police and government have to face accountability. That’s what Satluj demands. But why is the same criterion not applied to the terrorists who committed unspeakable acts? Does this justify Gill’s crackdown? The norm at that time and habit of bumping off any person who was a nuisance does become just that. A habit. Khalra is portrayed as a human rights activist seeking answers through all the proper channels. Yes, that is partially correct. The massive omission is that Khalra was a propagandist for the terrorists whose violent methods he supported. He founded, wrote for and edited Liberation Khalistan while in the UK in the 1990s. He was general secretary of the human rights wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal. Khalra represented insurgents in international forums as innocents whose human rights to self-determination were being met with violent state oppression.
The ending of the film romanticises Khalra’s last words. He speaks of his reason for dying and not giving in. He expresses that his death will be a diya (lamp) that will light up the darkness in the world. Question: Perhaps the diya could also ignite a fire?
The film is banned in India. Counterproductive, because people find a way to see it, as I did. Satluj tells a story that had to be told. It is not the whole story. It is worrisome that the youth in Punjab could be triggered by what is portrayed. If Punjab teaches us anything, it is that once we tell only half the story, the next generation mistakes it for the whole truth. I reported one part of that history. The film tells another. Punjab deserves to remember both.
The writer is a journalist
Villagers at a special screening of "Satluj" in Gurdaspur. (AP) 
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