Within 48 Hours After it Goes Up, Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj Taken off Zee5; Ram Mandir Trust Accepts Resignations of Champat Rai and Anil Mishra; America at 250: Exceptional, Embattled, Uncertain
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Snapshot of the day
July 6, 2026
Sidharth Bhatia
Satluj lasted for less than 48 hours after its release on Zee5 before the platform said it had to take it down for Indian audiences. The Diljit Dosanjh-starrer tells the story of the extrajudicial killings and illegal cremations that took place in Punjab in the 1980s and ‘90s, and its makers had contested the Central Board of Film Certification’s demand to make over a hundred cuts to the film a few years ago. In fact, Honey Trehan, Satluj‘s director, has revealed that the film’s release on OTT occurred under a cloud of secrecy in a bid to dodge the Modi government’s censors. That it has been taken down now has been met with opprobrium, especially given how pro-Hindutva films like The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story continue to stream on Zee5.
The Ram Mandir Trust has accepted general secretary Champat Rai and member Anil Mishra’s resignations “on moral grounds to ensure an impartial investigation” into the allegations of embezzlement that have embroiled the temple management. It also announced it is removing invitee Gopal Rao, aka Gopal Nagarkatte, from his post – some people, including the Nirmohi Akhada, one of the original litigants in the Babri Masjid case and which belongs to the particular sect that is to perform some of the religious functions at the temple. Its decision comes almost exactly a month after the embezzlement allegations became public.
Though the trust said that the ‘irregularities’ in the counting process are “unfortunate”, it went on to say that “some people are attempting to use this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to weaken the Ramlalla Temple, Ram Janmabhoomi, Hindu society and the broader Hindu faith”.
India Today, meanwhile, appears to have found the safest cover-page route: put the ‘minions’ up front and leave the power structure politely out of frame.
Directed by a federal judge to wait up and actually explain why it would like to drop its criminal case against Gautam and Sagar Adani, the US Department of Justice on Saturday accused the Joe Biden administration of pursuing a politically motivated case and argued that Indian authorities themselves have found “no actionable misconduct” to act on. But the Indian decisions the DOJ has cited – namely, the Competition Commission, the Delhi high court and the Bombay high court dismissing pleas to look into the allegations – do not contain any findings on the allegations or indicate that they have been subject to a criminal probe, Devirupa Mitra points out.
