Punish those behind Hathras stampede

The stampede at a religious congregation at Phulrai village in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh, on July 2, in which 120 people died, and scores were injured, is among the biggest tragedies of its kind in recent times. It is similar to incidents that regularly take place in many parts of India. They occur at religious congregations, art performances, and other venues where people gather in large numbers. Religious congregations are more prone to stampedes as they are often not well organised, and there is no control over the number of participants. In Hathras, a religious preacher known as Bhole Baba–he had recently become popular in the region—held a large congregation in a small village with no arrangements for crowd management or emergency medical care.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong in Hathras. There is no firm estimate of the number of people who had gathered there. It is stated that about one lakh people assembled in a small hall. There are contradictory views about whether the local authorities had granted permission for the gathering. Any permission would be based on the expected strength of the gathering, but numbers were probably not taken into account. It is reported that one exit door was closed to allow the Baba to leave, and that aggravated the situation. There were no facilities for the treatment of injured people or even to transport them to the nearest healthcare centre. Neither the organisers nor the others present were equipped to respond to an emergency.

Most victims are likely to be from the underprivileged sections as they formed the main following of the Baba. Some may not even be identified. Everyone responsible for the tragedy, including the Baba, the organisers, and the authorities at various levels should be held to account and punished. But this usually does not happen. Inquiries are announced, but they are not followed up. The Baba is said to be politically connected. There is much talk about safety protocols, preventive measures, and emergency responses after every such incident, but they are soon forgotten. Unless infrastructural, material, and human support is ensured for all large gatherings, such accidents are bound to occur again. These are tragedies in which people are pushed to a terrible death, survivors live with their injuries and trauma, and dependents are rendered orphaned. Unfortunately, no lessons are learnt from them.