Media takes authorities to task over Sabarimala tragedy

Lily

B.R
Staff member
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Idduki, Kerala: Indian authorities were heavily criticised on Sunday after a religious gathering turned into a scene of bloody mayhem with more than 100 people crushed to death in a stampede.

Stampedes are a regular risk in India where policing and crowd control are often inadequate at temples and on pilgrimage routes, where huge throngs of devotees congregate on auspicious occasions.

Just three policemen, two doctors and 30 forest officials were overseeing 300,000 pilgrims on Friday evening, the Indian Express newspaper said, citing D. Salim Raj, the crime branch deputy superintendent investigating the tragedy.

A traffic accident is thought to have triggered panic among worshippers as they crossed mountainous terrain in the dark after visiting the Hindu shrine of Sabarimala in the southern state of Kerala.

“Absence of proper roads, communication facilities and a crisis management team on the spot made rescue operations impossible,” the Express said.
“How casually the state government handled the pilgrimage centre is evident from the fact that [the site] does not even have a single toilet.”
Hysteria

The New Indian Express, a separate newspaper based in the southern city of Chennai, blamed the Kerala government for not preventing hysteria over a ‘miracle light’ that attracts many pilgrims.
Under the headline “For God’s sake, let's end this fraud”, the paper said that stallholders, traders and local businesses promoted the ‘miracle’ to draw in crowds.

“Murder charges should be framed against those who conspire to allow this fraud to continue,” it said. “Places of worship are meant to lead the devotees on the right path of a righteous life. The efforts to make them money-spinning centres are unethical.”
In a commentary, the Mail Today said: “Forget about the security lapse and the terrible mismanagement. The fact remains that the government deliberately perpetuates the mystery around the miracle lamp.” Several media reports said that the ‘miracle’ light was actually a burning heap of camphor.

It is the second time in recent years that the annual festival has been struck by disaster. In 1999 more than 50 devotees died after a landslide at the site.

Recommendations from a probe into that disaster — including a re-routing of pilgrims — were not implemented, opposition politicians said yesterday.
“When I was about to reach the narrow pathway, swamis [sages] started tumbling down on me. Some of them fell like big rocks,” survivor Nagendra Kumar told the Hindustan Times.

“I fell twice in the rush but managed to get up before getting trampled. Most of them weren’t sure what really happened. People started running helter-skelter. Soon helpless wails rent the air.”

Police on Sunday began investigations into the stampede even as officials rejected allegations of inadequate security.

Investigators and forensic experts visited the accident scene yesterday to determine the cause of the accident near the temple on Friday night where an estimated 200,000 pilgrims had gathered on the last day of a two-month-long annual ritual. Besides the police probe, the state government has ordered an independent probe headed by a judge to look into the tragedy.
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