‘Punjab’s painful past is not a script to be selectively edited to suit a narrative,’ says Minister Bittu

Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the film “Satluj” and its removal from an OTT platform, Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu said on Sunday (July 12, 2026) said that the makers of “Satluj” cannot hide behind the excuse of “creative freedom” while presenting disputed claims as established history.

“Punjab’s painful past is not a script to be selectively edited to suit a narrative. I challenge the producer and director of the Satluj movie to place before the people of Punjab the complete documentary evidence, official records, judicial findings and authenticated data that conclusively establish the figure of 25,000 missing or illegally cremated bodies portrayed in the film,” he said in a statement.

“If this figure is based merely on an estimate or allegation, why has it been projected as an established historical fact? Why were viewers not informed that this number has not been conclusively established by any final judicial determination?” quipped Mr. Bittu.

The film, which was earlier titled “Punjab ‘95” and details the life of activist Jaswant Singh Khalra in Punjab in the traumatic phase of militancy between the mid-1980s and early-1990s, was released uncut on ZEE5 under the new title of “Satluj” on July 3.

Mr. Bittu added, “The people of Punjab deserve answers for equally disturbing omissions and selective portrayal of Punjab’s darkest chapter. “Why are the massacres of innocent Hindus, bus passengers, shopkeepers, government employees, labourers and ordinary citizens brutally killed by terrorists not depicted with the same intensity? Why has the immense sacrifice of Punjab Police personnel, security forces and countless brave citizens who fought terrorism been underplayed? Why are the thousands of families devastated by terrorist violence virtually absent from the narrative? Why has one side of history been amplified while the suffering of thousands of other victims has been marginalised?”

He said no responsible filmmaker has the right to distort history by presenting contested figures as unquestionable truth. Punjab’s history cannot be rewritten through selective storytelling. Truth must prevail over propaganda, facts over fiction, and evidence over emotion, he said.