No controversy can distract Punjabis from real issues: Laxmi Kanta

Calling the ‘Satluj’ controversy an attempt to divert attention from Punjab’s contemporary issues, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Laxmi Kanta Chawla of Amritsar said that all the noise surrounding a film would not make the state’s real challenges disappear.

“People who witnessed the dark days of insurgency in Punjab know that there is a political mind working behind the entire situation. I have thought about it a lot. Every innocent death deserves justice—there is no doubt about that. However, had it not been for the political will of Beant Singh and KPS Gill’s leadership of police operations on the ground, militancy in Punjab would not have been countered effectively,” said Chawla.

A former Cabinet minister, Member of the Legislative Assembly and a firebrand political leader during one of Punjab’s most turbulent periods, Chawla said she was not against telling the truth or portraying stories from the state’s uncomfortable past. “I have not seen the film, but I know for sure that every Punjabi, regardless of religion or community, was affected by this fire. Whether innocent lives were taken by militants or by some police officials, innocent people died and families were devastated. I witnessed a bomb blast in Ahluwalia Katra that claimed several lives. The collective pain needs to be acknowledged, but it should not be reopened,” she said.

Chawla was a college lecturer in Amritsar—the epicentre of the turmoil—during the 1980s and 1990s. She became known for her uncompromising stance against the Khalistan movement. Today, she says Punjab’s focus should shift to its present-day challenges rather than remain centred on the past.

“The people of Punjab have always been, and will always remain, sensible. Even at the height of communal tensions during the 1984 Delhi riots, communal harmony in Punjab remained strong, and I believe it will continue to do so. I am a believer in Guru Nanak’s bani, and during the days of militancy I drew strength from and lived by the verses of Guru Gobind Singh. No controversy can distract the Punjabi voter from the real issues on the ground,” she said.