The release and subsequent removal of the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj from the ZEE5 OTT platform has brought Jaswant Singh Khalra’s human rights work in Punjab back into focus. While the film portrays the CBI as having done excellent work in bringing justice to the affected families, activists argue the reality is far more complex.

Advocate Jagjeet Singh Bajwa is part of a team of lawyers and human rights workers who, for the past two decades, have been pursuing cases against Indian security personnel on behalf of the victims’ families. He points out that the CBI limited its mandate to only a handful of the more than 2,000 cases brought to light by Khalra. Instead of expanding the investigation, the agency restricted its scope to just about 70 cases.

“We have worked for the past two decades to bring the culprits to justice, but we too believe that justice has not been fully achieved, as a vast majority of cases were never registered or investigated by the CBI or any other agency,” said Advocate Jagjeet Singh Bajwa of the Punjab Documentation and Advocacy Project (PDAP) while talking to journalist Mandeep Singh. “Our petition seeking an investigation into more than 8,000 cases is currently pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, awaiting a hearing for several years now.”