A committee constituted by the Center to study the content of the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer film Satluj has been learned to recommend maintaining a ban on its public availability through online streaming platforms as the film is allegedly against the sovereignty and integrity of India, government sources said on Saturday.
The film, directed by Honey Trehan, chronicles the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who investigated the cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies in Punjab between 1984 and 1994 and was abducted and killed by state police in 1995.
It was pulled from OTT platform ZEE5 for viewers in India two days after its release on July 3 after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cited security concerns.
Subsequently, the ministry constituted an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) under the IT Rules 2021 to study the film in detail and recommend further action.
In Punjab, the issue became political with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) demanding the ban be lifted and the Shiromani Akali Dal announcing plans to screen the film across the state.
Sources said the committee noted that the ban on the film under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act was justified.
Section 69A empowers the government to block online content on grounds such as sovereignty and integrity of India, defence, national security, friendly relations with foreign states and public order.
The committee includes representatives from the ministries of Information and Broadcasting, Home Affairs, Electronics and Information Technology, Women and Child Development, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Law and Justice, among others.
He noted that the film’s narrative is unbalanced as it whitewashes the actions of militants while highlighting the abuses committed by security forces in Punjab during the fighting years.
Part III of the Information Technology (Interim Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 empowers the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to implement Section 69A of the Information Technology Act under the mechanism meant to oversee OTT content that does not come under the purview of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
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