India, July 12 -- The controversy surrounding the film, Satluj, inspired by the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, has reopened one of Punjab's deepest wounds-that of Sikh genocide. While the film focuses on allegations of illegal cremations and disappearances during the counter-terrorism years, families of Hindus killed by Khalistani terrorists say that an equally painful chapter of Punjab's history has once again been pushed to the background.

Over the past few days, The Sunday Guardian spoke to families who lost parents, siblings and children in terrorist attacks in the 1980s and early 1990s. Their message is consistent-the conversation around Punjab's Khalistani terrorism often remembers one set of victims, while ove...