The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has strongly condemned the removal of the film Satluj, based on the life of human rights activist Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra, from an OTT platform and termed it a direct attack on freedom of expression. Addressing the media during a press conference on Monday, AAP Punjab Chief Spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Central Government and demanded the immediate lifting of the ban imposed on the film.
Targeting the Central Government, Dhaliwal said that the film narrates the true story of Punjab's tragic and dark period, a truth that the rulers sitting in Delhi want to bury forever. He said that Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra fought fearlessly for human rights without caring for his own life and exposed before the world the truth of thousands of innocent youths who were killed in fake police encounters and cremated as unidentified bodies during that period.
Banning such a historic film that presents the truth is extremely shameful. This ban proves that the Central Government is rubbing salt into Punjab's wounds. Dhaliwal launched a scathing attack on what he termed the triangular nexus of the Congress, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal. He said that the Congress government at the Centre committed inhuman atrocities against the people of Punjab and unleashed brutal oppression on Sikhs during that period, and this film reflects that very dark truth.
Today, the BJP and the Congress are secretly working together, which is why the film has been removed from online platforms so that the younger generation does not learn about those horrific atrocities committed by the Congress. In this entire conspiracy, the Shiromani Akali Dal has been an equal partner alongside the BJP and the Congress.
Exposing the double standards of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Dhaliwal said that Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra himself was associated with the Akali Dal, yet the Badal family and their party never stood up for him. Referring to the recent interview of Shaheed Khalra's wife, Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra, Dhaliwal said that hearing her interview shook his soul.
The account she narrated is a permanent blot on the Akali Dal. At that time, Bibi Khalra had approached Parkash Singh Badal seeking justice and help, but Badal refused to assist her. Launching a direct attack on Sukhbir Singh Badal, Dhaliwal said that because of his father Parkash Singh Badal's shameful and insensitive conduct, Sukhbir Badal should hang his head in shame today.
The party that calls itself Panthic abandoned the family of Punjab's greatest human rights warrior when they needed support the most. The Aam Aadmi Party stands with the people of Punjab and the family of Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra and warns the Central Government that Punjab will never tolerate such authoritarian attempts to suppress the truth.