Chamunda Devi stampede
It was no surprise that for many of the English news channels, today the lead story was not the Chamunda Devi stampede in Rajasthan. It was rather the rejection of the $700 billion package by the U.S. Congress or the Army being forced to accept the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission. And my favourite Times Now and Arnab Goswami finds time even to “debate” these issues further.
But nobody has time ask a simple question: Why we have to live with one after another stampede? Is it just enough to just show some gory pictures and forget it as it was only a haadsa (accident)? (Remember Naina Devi and Mandradevi stampede which killed 162 and 340 devotees respectively) When will we realise that these are no less criminal acts? And the criminals are the temple management, the organisers and more so the local police administration which permitted such events to take place without properly varifying the preventive measures put in place. How different these incidences are from the Uphaar Cinema Hall trajedy which took 59 lives on June 13, 1997? Are the lives of those ‘killed” in such stampedes any less precious than a person killed in any other criminal act? If Ansal brothers could be trialed for their criminal negligence, why not the above-mentioned authorities in stampede cases?
Our immediate reaction to stamedes is sympathy and politicians doling out generous donations to the ill-fated and their relatives. They do order enquiries into such incidences, but nobody knows the fate of such reports. In a country where setting up a committee is the easiest way to ensure mass amnesia, asking to take corrective measures in the aftermath to such incidences is too much to ask for.
Religion has become a big business in India. And it is not only the case for South India temples (which anyway provide better facilities in return of a few extra pennies though), but all over the country. But nobody has the right to take innocent, fate-bound souls for granted. Rajasthan government must put the culprits of the Chamunda Devi stampede behind the bars and set an example.
Beyond The Obvious 