Soon after the ban, Pakistanis were busy debating why the movie should be screened across Pakistan, especially in Punjab.
This film documents horrifying India state brutality that is a great artistic effort by @diljitdosanjh & the entire team.
India vs Pakistan battleThe online discourse began with former Punjab Information Minister and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry asking where Pakistanis could watch the movie.
This is exactly what’s happening to us now,” X user Lubna Syed wrote.
“Those in Pakistan questioning the decision to ban the film Satluj in India are right.
Soon after the ban, Pakistanis were busy debating why the movie should be screened across Pakistan, especially in Punjab.
Satluj , which began streaming on ZEE5 on Friday evening after three years of being stuck at the CBFC, disappeared less than 48 hours later from the platform. It was taken down on the government’s orders claiming that certain parts in the film “can be used against India.”
New Delhi: Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj has split Pakistan along a ‘my conflict vs your conflict’ discourse. The film might have been banned in India, but it’s driving censorship debates in the neighbouring country.
“In my opinion, the Pakistan govt should allow screening of ‘Sutlej’ all across cinemas. This film documents horrifying India state brutality that is a great artistic effort by @diljitdosanjh & the entire team. A humble request @GovtofPakistan @MoIB_Official,” Pakistani journalist Faisal Hussain wrote on X.
The Honey Trehan directorial is based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who investigated extra-judicial killings in Punjab during the height of militancy in the 80s and 90s.
Submitted to the CBFC in 2022, Satluj was denied certification after the board demanded 127 cuts and even a change of title. The filmmakers challenged the decision before the Bombay High Court before eventually withdrawing the case. In 2023, the film was also pulled from a planned premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
This year, the directors opted for a direct OTT release without cuts, accepting only a title change.
However, it lasted only a weekend and the debate India tried to avoid found an audience across the border.
India vs Pakistan battle
The online discourse began with former Punjab Information Minister and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry asking where Pakistanis could watch the movie.
The question itself produced almost as much confusion as the film’s disappearance. One Pakistani X user, apparently assuming that Satluj was a Pakistani production banned by Islamabad, questioned why Pakistan had prohibited the film in the first place and why a minister did not know how to use VPN.
Others drew direct parallels between the persecution of Sikhs depicted in the film and Pakistan’s own allegations of enforced disappearances under Army Chief Asim Munir.
“The oppression of Sikhs shown in this film—that same oppression is being inflicted upon us Pakistanis by our own forces, Asim Munir’s troll army. Thousands of bodies shown as unidentified people were picked up from their homes and disappeared. Those police officers who refused to become partners were abducted and killed. The sanctity of veils and four walls violated. This is exactly what’s happening to us now,” X user Lubna Syed wrote.
When Chaudhry later shared another post explaining why he described the “Modi Junta” as having banned the movie, another user appeared less interested in India’s censorship than Pakistan’s own.
Shehryar Azhar Malik replied on X: “At least he didn’t ban Biggest opposition leader’s name or picture on TV. Pakistan’s leadership and your people in GHQ did it? Rings a bell Chaudhry Fawad Running Hussain.”
It did not end there. After Chaudhry managed to watch the film, he had suggestions. He now wants current Punjab I&B minister Uzma Bukhari to screen it especially for the Crime Control Dept of Pakistan– “Maybe they’ll gain some sense about how big a tragedy it becomes to kill people!!” he added on X.
Also read: Pakistan Deputy PM Ishaq Dar’s grandson arrested for rape & kidnapping. A ‘boss’ named in FIR
A moment of truth
For others, however, the discourse over championing the movie across the border came across as hypocritical. Would Pakistanis support a film made on controversial issues in the country? a Pakistani lawyer asked on X.
“Those in Pakistan questioning the decision to ban the film Satluj in India are right. However, my question to them is simple: would they support a film based on the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, the Mehran Bank/IJI funding (Asghar Khan) case, the repeated imposition of martial laws or the Missing persons, if such films critically examined the role of the Pakistani state?” Pakistani barrister Abuzar Salman Niazi wrote.
He then added: “In democracy, the freedom to dissent is indispensable. Societies need voices that expose uncomfortable truths, challenge injustice and scrutinize state policies, because that is how democracy survives. What I find troubling, however, is that many of the same people justify the persecution, suppression of dissent and authoritarianism taking place in Pakistan.”
He followed it with another cross border comparison: “Iman Mazari in Pakistan and Jaswant Singh Khalra, portrayed by Diljit Dosanjh in Satluj, share a common purpose: exposing human rights abuses despite immense personal risk. If you celebrate Khalra’s courage on screen, ask yourself whether you would stand with those raising similar issues in Pakistan today.”
When ARY News president Ammad Yousaf said, “Their main concern was that the film will further ignite discussion about Indian Punjab’s past”, another X user shot back: “I’m sure the Asim Munir government in Pakistan will be happy to release a film based on Arshad Sharif’s murder. And your brave @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL channel will broadcast it?”
Satluj also stars Kanwaljeet Singh, Arjun Rampal, Suvinder Vicky, and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
