‘Punjab ’95,’ based on Indian activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, pulled from TIFF lineup

Attracting controversy before its release, the Indian film Punjab ’95 has been removed from the lineup for the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival or TIFF, where it was scheduled for its world premiere.

The removal of the film, starring singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh, directed by Honey Trehan, was reported by the industry journals Variety and Screen Daily.

Screen reported that a Festival spokesperson confirmed “that it is no longer part of the programme. The festival would not comment further on the reasons behind its withdrawal.”

All references to the film have been removed from TIFF’s website along with the tweet announcing its selection on July 24.

The film is a biopic about Punjab-based human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who disappeared in 1995. A decade later, six Punjab Police personnel were convicted for his murder.

Khalra focused on documenting the disappearance of thousands in Punjab during the peak period of the Khalistan movement in the state. The film had already run into trouble in India, as the Central Board of Film Certification took nearly seven months to provide it with a censor certificate, after demanding multiple cuts and a change of the original name, Ghallughara.

That term has been applied to massacres of Sikhs through history, and at times also used for the anti-Sikh pogroms in 1984 after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her security guards in New Delhi.

According to the Screen report CBFC felt that “certain parts of the film could incite violence and may potentially radicalise Sikh youth while affecting the integrity of India and its relations with foreign states.”

After the announcement of the world premiere at TIFF, director Honey Trehan had tweeted, “Presenting the first look of Punjab ‘95, a compelling story based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.”

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