Prove 25,000 cremations claim: Union Minister challenges Sutluj makers
Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Sunday challenged the makers of Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj to substantiate what he described as "disputed claims" in the film
Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Sunday challenged the makers of Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj to substantiate what he described as "disputed claims" in the film, saying they cannot invoke "creative freedom" to present contested allegations as established historical fact. His remarks came amid an escalating controversy over the film, which was removed from ZEE5 in India just two days after its July 3 release after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cited security concerns. Read Full Story Directed by Honey Trehan and earlier titled Punjab '95, the film is based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who investigated the alleged illegal cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies in Punjab between 1984 and 1994. The film's removal has triggered protests in Punjab, with Sikh bodies and political parties demanding that it be restored. In a statement, Bittu said Punjab's traumatic past "is not a script that can be edited selectively to suit a narrative". "I challenge the producer and director of Satluj 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 as portrayed in the film," he said.
The Union minister questioned whether the figure was based on estimates or allegations rather than judicially established facts. "If the 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 was not conclusively established by any final judicial determination?" he asked. Bittu called on the filmmakers to publicly disclose the documentary basis for the figure within a reasonable timeframe. If they failed to produce "credible and verifiable evidence", he said, they owed the people of Punjab a clarification that the number was not part of any officially verified count. "We will examine all appropriate legal and constitutional remedies to ensure that historical facts are not misrepresented before the nation. Punjab's history cannot be rewritten through selective storytelling. Truth must prevail over propaganda, facts over fiction, and evidence over emotion," he added. QUESTIONS OVER PORTRAYAL OF PUNJAB PAST Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated in a terror attack in Chandigarh in 1995, also questioned what he described as selective omissions in the film's portrayal of Punjab's insurgency years.
The BriefWire