Satluj is directed by Honey Trehan and stars Diljit Dosanjh, based on the life of Jaswant Singh Khalra, the rights activist who found thousands of unidentified bodies quietly cremated in Punjab through the 1980s and 90s before police killed him in 1995. It went up on ZEE5 on July 3 without any certification at all.Two days later, the government ordered it taken down, citing national security concerns, and here's the odd part, the film was still sitting with the Central Board of Film Certification when ZEE5 streamed it,and the board had already asked for cuts.OTT platforms don't currently need CBFC clearance for anything, they just follow separate digital media rules that came into force back in 2021.A committee formed to review the film later said the ban on its streaming should stay, arguing it goes against the country's sovereignty and integrity.That's a heavy label for a film about a man who's been dead for thirty years.
Government sources told PTI the plan is to amend the Information Technology Rules of 2021 so every film needs CBFC clearance before it can stream online, a rule OTT platforms in India have never had to follow before now.Right now, platforms only answer to Section 69A of the IT Act,the same rule that let the government order Satluj offline, citing sovereignty, security, defence and public order as grounds. And ZEE5 itself could still face action for putting the film out while its certification was still pending.Satluj hasn't gone anywhere though, it's still playing quietly in gurdwaras across Punjab, and the state goes to the polls early next year.
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