Human rights lawyer Rajvinder Singh Bains, who worked with Jaswant Singh Khalra, says Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj is “judicially accurate”. Speaking to Kathe Sunte Radio, Sydney, he explains how the film is based on trial records and testimonies collected from his office. Rajvinder addresses the controversial 25,000 missing figure, the Khalistani label used against Khalra, and why he chose to return to Punjab despite death threats. He also speaks on extrajudicial actions like house demolitions and the growing alienation in Punjab. “It’s largely how things actually happened,” he says. “He was fighting for ordinary people and justice.”
There have been many views on Satluj, some have said, it should never had been made, or, that it is firing conspiracy theories no one can check, and so on. Zee5 where the movie was released after a long lost battle with India’s censor board and pulled down in 2 days, says in a statement, “Our commitment to creators and to stories told with conviction, artistic integrity and purpose remains unwavering.”
Transcribed version (through AI) of the Kathe Sunte Radio, Sydney interview of Jaswant Singh Khalra’s lawyer Rajvinder Singh Bains, High Court lawyer, by Manbir Singh Kohli on July 9, 2026, episode 391.
Q: Rajinder, you’ve seen the movie Satluj and you were associated with Jaswant Singh Khalra. As a human rights lawyer, do you think the film portrayed the events clearly or is it still dramatised?
A: The producer collected all the legal testimonies from my office before writing the script because he wanted to be judicially accurate. Whatever witnesses deposed — how Jaswant Singh Khalra was picked up, how he was threatened earlier — all of that is largely depicted in trial papers and news cuttings. Even how he was warned by KPS Gill, and the DGP saying those who were claimed to be killed had actually migrated, is part of the trial records. The producers went through the entire record from trial court to Supreme Court. I myself conducted the trial, and the movie presents it largely the way the trial court record suggests. He hasn’t exaggerated or minimised. There’s a little bit of poetic dramatisation, but largely it’s how things actually happened in the Jaswant Singh Khalra case.
Q: What kind of work was Jaswant Singh Khalra doing? Was he politically aligned?
A: He was essentially a field worker. Though he had a law degree, he was filing habeas corpus petitions in the High Court for families whose children were picked up and whose whereabouts were unknown. He wasn’t politically aligned. He even had disagreements and asked for an independent sphere to function. He made a special human rights wing and was doing what any lawyer or journalist would do — helping people pro bono. He was well known among activist lawyers for bringing such cases.
Q: The film mentions 25,000 people going missing in Punjab. Is there truth to that number?
A: That was Jaswant Singh Khalra’s number from his January 1995 report. He collected records from just three cremation grounds around Amritsar and found 297 persons listed as “unknown” bodies brought by police. After 30 years, other organisations have also documented cases: Ram Narayan Kumar published Reduced to Ashes with details of 2,700 victims Ensaaf (USA) lists 5,500 victims with village, photo, and details Satnam Singh Beant collected FIRs through RTI and documented 6,600 new cases Collectively that’s about 17,000 verified cases. So when Khalra said 25,000 young men were killed without judicial process, it’s not an exaggeration.
Q: Was Jaswant Singh Khalra a Khalistani supporter?
A: No. None of his speeches or articles talk about Khalistan. He was doing mainstream legal work and campaigning for constitutional rights. He was part of a mainstream political party at one point but left it. He was a good Indian, a good human being, a good Sikh, and a good Punjabi. He had a very secular, broad outlook. The “Khalistani” label was used against him after the fact, but his work was about justice for ordinary people, not separatism.
Q: Why did he go back to Punjab despite warnings about his life being in danger?
A: After releasing the data in 1995, KPS Gill held a press conference calling it lies. Khalra went to Canada and showed the evidence to foreign governments and press, which gave him publicity but also endangered his life. He was warned not to return.
My father also tried to persuade him to stay, but he said even if it endangers his life he must go back — “I can’t show my face to the people who are being killed if I run away”. Within 6 days of Beant Singh’s assassination on 31st August, he was picked up.
Q: What are your thoughts on extrajudicial actions like demolishing houses of suspects?
A: It’s a negation of everything we built in 70 years — judiciary, institutions, confidence in justice. Earlier they used to kill, now they’re demolishing houses to make public impact. It’s like the British system of punishing whole villages.
This comes from failure of regular institutions. People think there’s no other way, but it’s lawlessness. Most of our activists are people who suffered personally and know the high-handedness and torture.
Q: What caused the alienation in Punjab?
A: Punjab has a history of distrusting the Delhi government, irrespective of party. People feel Delhi don’t understand Punjab’s psychology and try to control it. Laws like UAPA and TADA add to that suspicion. When governors are from Delhi and victims are from Punjab, a permanent alienation sets in.
Q: How should we remember Jaswant Singh Khalra?
A: As a very sensitive Indian, Punjabi and Sikh who fought to uncover the tragedy that befell Punjab. He was fighting for ordinary people, for justice, without political affiliation.
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