Film Satluj faces continued OTT ban over sovereignty concerns

Amidst the political outrage over the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer film Satluj, a committee set up by the Centre to examine the content of the film on Saturday asserted that the ban on its public access through online platforms should remain as the film allegedly goes against India’s sovereignty and integrity.

The issue turned political in Punjab, with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) demanding that the ban be lifted and Shiromani Akali Dal announcing plans to screen the film across the State. Punjab, currently led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is headed for Assembly polls early next year and political parties have been trying to create a controversy over the film.

The Honey Trehan-directed film depicts 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 murdered by the State police in 1995.

Sources in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the committee pointed out that the ban on the film under Section 69A of the IT Act was justified.

Section 69A empowers the Government to block online content on grounds including India’s sovereignty and integrity, defence, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States and public order.

The committee comprises representatives from the ministries of information and broadcasting, home affairs, electronics and information technology, women and child development, external affairs, defence, and law and justice, among others. “It observed that the narrative of the film is not balanced as it whitewashes the acts of the militants while highlighting the excesses committed by the security forces in Punjab during the militancy years,” Government sources said.

Part III of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, empowers the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to invoke Section 69A of the IT Act under a mechanism meant to oversee OTT content that does not fall within the purview of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

It was pulled from the 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 set up an inter-departmental committee (IDC) under the IT Rules 2021 for a detailed examination of the film and recommend the future course of action.