India, July 8 -- The government and the system have shot themselves in the foot over both the much-delayed release and the prompt takedown of the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj. Ironically, the BJP government has been on a feverish spree of backing and even sponsoring politically loaded movies on sensitive subjects, including Kashmir. It even smiled patronisingly on the celluloid jingoism of a rank low-calibre commercial like Dhurandhar. So, it is amusing to watch the system acting so sensitive over a film that has an extreme political sensitivity in another direction.

True, political bosses and the system don't generally act in harmony. At times, political bosses may not even know how the bureaucracy is taking decisions for which the buc...