Surrey: Banned Sikh Film Satluj Screened Locally as U.S. Charges Bishnoi Gang in Nijjar Assassination

🎬 Banned Sikh Film Satluj Finds Audiences at Surrey Community Screenings

A film about Sikh human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra — blocked in India and removed from a streaming service within two days of its release — is drawing audiences at community screenings across Canada, including events in Surrey, British Columbia. Titled Satluj, the film stars Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh as Khalra, who investigated and publicly documented extrajudicial killings and the forced disappearance of individuals during Punjab's separatist insurgency of the 1980s and 1990s. CBC News reported that India's film censorship board delayed the film's release for approximately two to three years. When Satluj was eventually made available on an Indian streaming platform earlier in July 2026, it was removed within 48 hours on government orders citing national security concerns. The banning intensified diaspora interest, and multiple community screenings were organized across Canada in response. Gurpreet Singh, a journalist and author based in Delta, B.C., spoke to CBC about the film's significance for the Sikh community in Canada. Screenings in Surrey were planned for the weekend of July 18 and 19, 2026, drawing members of the local Punjabi Sikh community who regard the events depicted in the film — and the censorship effort mounted against it — as matters of direct relevance to their shared history. The screenings represent a grassroots response by the diaspora to access a film their country of origin has sought to suppress. [1]

Operation Hard Ball Targets Bishnoi Gang Linked to Surrey Assassination and B.C. Extortion

American and Canadian law enforcement jointly unveiled sweeping criminal charges against members of three India-linked organized crime networks under an operation named Operation Hard Ball, carried out by the FBI and RCMP. The operation targeted 37 defendants, including Lawrence Bishnoi — a gangster imprisoned in India since 2015 who is alleged to have continued directing criminal operations from his jail cell. One of the networks linked to Bishnoi faces charges connecting it to the extortion crisis affecting communities in Ontario and British Columbia, as well as allegations of involvement in the June 2023 assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C. FBI Los Angeles assistant director Patrick Grandy, speaking alongside RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, described Operation Hard Ball as a strike at organizations that had terrorized families, exploited communities, and stolen lives. CBC News and Radio-Canada reported that journalists had spent months reviewing criminal case files, attending deportation hearings, and speaking with victims to document the scope of the gang's alleged activities, which extend beyond extortion and murder to include auto fraud and cricket fixing. The indictments represent one of the most significant North American law enforcement actions targeting Indian transnational organized crime and raise ongoing questions about the full reach of Bishnoi's alleged network within Canadian communities. [5]

U.S. Indictment Charges Bishnoi Members Over Killing of Surrey Sikh Leader

American authorities announced the arrests of multiple Bishnoi gang members on charges that include ordering the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader shot and killed outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023. The charges were unsealed as part of the FBI-led Operation Hard Ball and represent a significant legal development in one of the most consequential cases involving the Sikh diaspora in Canada in recent memory. Nijjar had served as president of his Surrey gurdwara and was a prominent figure in the Sikh independence movement. His killing had already triggered a serious diplomatic dispute between Canada and India after the Canadian government formally accused Indian government agents of involvement. The U.S. charges introduce a new legal dimension by framing the alleged coordination of the killing within the framework of transnational organized crime and racketeering, implicating Bishnoi gang members directly in the planning of the hit. Global News reported on the arrests when they were publicly announced, noting that U.S. law enforcement coordinated the action with their RCMP counterparts. The Sikh community in Surrey and across British Columbia has persistently called for full accountability in the investigation of Nijjar's death, and the U.S. indictments have renewed and deepened that conversation within the diaspora. [2]

Sources: [1] CBC · [5] Radio-Canada · [2] Global News