Everything To Know About Jaswant Singh Khalra, The Activist On Whom Diljit Dosanjh Starrer Panjab '95 Is Based

'Panjab '95' is a political thriller starring Diljit Dosanjh in the lead. Based on the life and death of activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, the film's release has been full of hurdles.

'Panjab '95' is a political thriller starring Diljit Dosanjh in the lead. Based on the life and death of activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, the film's release has been full of hurdles.

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'Panjab '95' is a political thriller starring Diljit Dosanjh in the lead. Based on the life and death of activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, the film's release has been full of hurdles. Earlier, the Central Board of Film Certification( CBFC), had proposed 120 cuts in the film, and Khalra’s family objected to it. Featuring Diljit Dosanjh, Arjun Rampal and Suvinder Vicky in the lead, ‘Panjab ‘95’ was supposed to release outside India with no cuts, but it seems that the release is not likely to happen, once again.

Panjab' 95 has been fighting controversies for the last 3 years, ever since it was submitted for certification to the CBFC.

Wondering why ‘Panjab ‘95’ is being delayed release abroad and has no-clearance in India?

It is because of the subject matter of this political thriller directed by Honey Trehan. Initially titled 'Ghalughara' but changed after the Censor Board objected to it, 'Panjab '95' was supposed to be release uncut abroad after the intervention of The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. 

However, for reasons not shared in public, the international release of this Dosanjh starrer has been stalled until further notice. The makers of the film and Diljit himself shared a note on social media stating, "We are sorry, and it pains us to inform you that the movie Panjab '95 will not release on 7th Feb due to circumstances beyond our control." 

Even the trailer of 'Panjab '95' was pulled down from YouTube India a day after its release. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What is the subject matter of Panjab’95?

‘Panjab ‘95’ is the biopic of a prominent Sikh human rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra, who received global attention for his research involving some 25,000 illegal killings and cremations involving the Punjab Police. It has been reported that the police also killed 2000 of its personnel who refused to cooperate in the project. 

Khalra was a bank director in Amritsar during the militancy period in Punjab. At the peak of Punjab's volatile period in the 90s, following Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Punjab police had sufficient power to detain suspects for any reason, majorly as suspected terrorists. 

The Punjab Police was reportedly accused of killing unarmed suspects in staged shootouts and burning thousands of dead bodies to cover up the murders.

Jaswant Khalra brought the entire matter into public domain after he began investigating cases by gathering evidence and witness testimonies.  Khalra initially began searching for some of colleagues who went missing. It was during his investigation that he found files of several other people who had been killed and later burnt in more districts in Punjab, and the list included thousands of people. The data was later validated by the National Human Rights Commission of India.

About Jaswant Singh Khalra

Jaswant Singh Khalra came from a family known for their human rights activism. His grandfather, Harnam Singh, was an activist with the Ghadar movement, a branch that led India's independence struggle from abroad. 

Khalra's efforts to bring global attention to the illegal activities of the Punjab Police during the insurgency led to his abduction by the Punjab Police officials on September 6, 1996. Despite several witnesses testifying his arrest, the Director General of the Punjab Police, Kanwar Pal Singh Gill denied ever arresting or detaining Khalra. 

Khalra was later murdered and the accused of his murder were not charged for 10 years until December 18, 2005, when six Punjab police officials were convicted. After several years of legal proceedings, the Suprmeme Court in 2011 dismissed the appeal against the sentence to life imprisonment, criticising the atrocities of the Punjab Police during the militancy period. 

Jaswant's wife, Paramjit Kaur, has continued her husband's activism and is a noted human rights activist herself.