The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Friday organised a protest march from Golden Temple to the deputy commissioner’s office in Amritsar, demanding the immediate removal of the ban on film “Satluj”, which portrays the life and struggle of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Led by SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, the march was joined by SGPC members, officials and employees. Participants carried placards and banners calling for justice for Khalra and highlighting the alleged human rights violations against Sikhs during the counter-insurgency period.
Following the march, an official memorandum addressed to the Punjab governor was submitted through the deputy commissioner.
Speaking to the media before the march, Dhami said during a period marked by fear and repression, Khalra courageously collected records of missing Sikh youth by obtaining official documents from cremation grounds and municipal authorities across Punjab, where many unidentified bodies had reportedly been cremated. According to Dhami, this was not merely an individual effort but a historic contribution to bringing the truth before humanity.
Dhami stated that Khalra was allegedly abducted by the police and subjected to inhuman torture before being killed in an attempt to suppress these revelations. He said the truth emerged after then SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra sent a telegram to the Supreme Court and Khalra’s family persistently pursued the case.
{{/usCountry}}Dhami stated that Khalra was allegedly abducted by the police and subjected to inhuman torture before being killed in an attempt to suppress these revelations. He said the truth emerged after then SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra sent a telegram to the Supreme Court and Khalra’s family persistently pursued the case.
{{/usCountry}}He noted that many lawyers, human rights defenders and their families also made significant sacrifices during that period. Recalling his own experience as a lawyer representing Sikh youth in various cases, he said he had personally witnessed what he described as widespread atrocities and added that justice had still not been delivered to the victims.
Dhami also questioned what he termed the government’s leniency toward a police officer convicted in the Jaswant Singh Khalra case. He contrasted this with the continued incarceration of several Sikh prisoners who, according to him, have remained in jail beyond their prescribed sentences. He alleged that issues concerning Sikh sentiments have consistently been ignored by successive governments. He further stated that even the parole application of Sikh prisoner Jagtar Singh Hawara to meet his elderly mother has not been decided.
The SGPC president also appealed to the Sikh community to participate in the ardas ceremony scheduled on the banks of Sutlej river on July 14.