Shiban Khaibri
The heart rending and excruciating accident at Amritsar during Dussehra celebrations on Oct19 could have never taken place and could have easily been averted and thus 61 precious lives saved from getting crushed under the wheels of a train, had sheer complicity and criminal negligence not been allowed to operate at such a ghastly premium. That, 61 families within a lightning strike of ten to fifteen seconds turned into mourning and shrieking, can never be allowed to go unheard, unwept and unsung especially when blatant, brazen and totally incautious state administration, prima facie is responsible for the tragedy. Local Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhhu terms the tragedy as “Prakrati Ka Prakope” or God’s fury – an insensitive and irresponsible statement, of course, from him.
It is disgusting that at the time of writing of these lines, say exactly 48 hours after the ghastly tragedy, no one is arrested by Congress government of Punjab, not even the orders for the “routine formal” inquiry are issued. Instead, the Chief Minister turns angry over a reporter over asking how long the enquiry would take to submit the report. A four weeks time or a month is proposed to be granted to the Enquiry Committee to “submit the report” but neither Rahul Gandhi nor Leader of the Opposition Gulam Nabi have camped in Amritsar nor visited the families of the victims of the negligent administration of the Punjab Government. It is a travesty of Indian politics that Congress President can camp in Hyderabad for days together over the suicide of a University student and indulge in all type of politics but he did not think it feasible or justifiable in any way to camp in Amritsar at least to wipe off the tears which were given to those who lost their dear ones due to the negligence and sheer carelessness of the administration under the rule of his Party. About other “secular” political parties, less said the better. Instead, blame is frantically and vigorously tried to be somehow parked at Railways as to why the speed of the trains had not been slowed down as if they were informed about it and cheap politics indulged in to somehow bring blame on Modi govnment.
Who had allowed the devout revellers spill onto the railway tracks while watching the spectacle of the effigies burning, is the moot question. How did the people stand up on railway tracks as if they were not meant for running trains on, but were just benches and armless stools for them to gain height to watch the proceedings? Could not the Police personnel posted around the venue prevent the people from standing on railway tracks or they were all in attendance of the all focussed Chief Guest? Had local administration given permission to hold the event near the railway track? Had they made any Police bandobust to erect barricades and humps so as to regulate crowds and prevent them from fanning in directions especially backwards when fireworks and actual burning of effigies often result in that inescapable situation? If the permission was given, hypothetically believing, were Railway authorities informed well in advance about the same so that the trains could either be stopped ahead of the actual spot or delayed by an hour or so and was a confirmation to that effect obtained from them? That two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time giving no breath to the crowd to think what had befallen them like a deadliest thunderbolt, amply proves that the local administration coupled with the event organisers and the “Chief Guest” proved to be utterly insouciant and criminally reckless.
Why do such tragedies and mishaps usually unfortunately only take place when yatras, Holy baths, attending festivals and melas are organised in a country with a vast population and having ages old culture of celebrations of many festivals but that does never mean that the people should continue to get killed due to administrative failures and half baked police arrangements? Whether it be Uttrakhand Kedarnath Mandir tragedy (5000/2900), the Kumbh tragedy (72/130), the Mandher Devi Temple tragedy (350/200), Naina Devi Temple tragedy( 150/400), Chamunda Devi Temple tragedy (120/200), Ram Janhki Temple tragedy (63/100), Sabriamala Temple tragedy Kerala (106/100), Rattangarh Hindu Temple tragedy (89/100) are all smearing blots on the respective inefficient administrations from time to time (Numerators denoting those killed and the denominators injured). The list is too long to be mentioned in these lines. Again, the question arises as to whether governments and those in administration have learnt any lessons from such tragedies striking pilgrims visiting Mandirs and celebrating connected festivals as if that being a matter of routine and “happening usually” hence no one’s concern in this country.
Agreed, Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh postponed his Isreal visit and reached Amritsar and Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal cancelled all his engagements in the US and decided to return to India on account of the tragic incident as he was in the US to receive the prestigious Carnot Prize for his contribution towards sustainable energy solutions , and the Prime Minister announcing the compensation etc but what the immediate relatives of the dead want is stern action against the ones in administration who were responsible for the tragic death of their dearest ones especially in the background of a leader cum organiser in the presence of the Chief Guest bragging and blustering while addressing the gathering at the site of the tragedy that even if 500 trains passed , nothing was going to happen when he is reported to actually having heard or seen trains nearing the site of the celebrations , establishing the culpability. It is a murderous act and not only a simple criminal act but the callousness of the state administration is conspicuous of no action against this leader cum organiser taken so far .
The Chief Guest reportedly reached late at 6.40 pm; the organisers delayed the programme because she did not turn up on time. How could the organisers be so much concerned about the Chief Guest that they compromised with the ages old tradition of a fixed time to cause the effigies burn as late as at 6.54pm? Had the effigies been consigned to flames as per traditions of strictly sticking to the fixed time , no mishap could have taken place as the trains crossed each other around 7 pm and that was when the effigies were just put to flames say, nearly one hour late. The delay caused so many deaths and eye witnesses recount that even when the train was mowing down the revellers, the “speech” was going on. Seeing the disaster, the Chief Guest is alleged to have left the venue and not caring to stand there to see what had happened. The horror recounting by the panic stricken people who saw people getting crushed and scattered in pieces within seconds, sends shivers down one’s spine. Who gave wails, cries, shrieks, tears and waves of shock to the bereaved families for losing their dears and nears must be held accountable and any move to go in for time consuming and dodging tactics in fixing accountability would prove counterproductive.
It is utterly shocking that flip flop, lies, bragging, accusations and counter accusations are galore post this tragic accident and no one taking any moral responsibility from the Punjab government .Ex-gratia relief and words of sympathy or the theatrics of tweets and statements or TV debates and “expert views” won’t bring the lives of the dead back, nor would the blame game resolve the matter. Why lapses of such criminal extent took place and how could lessons be learnt for future was more important than any other thing associated with this tragedy of unparalleled hue. In the meantime, it is imperative to ensure that heads rolled of those who were directly responsible for the lapses and negligence causing human tragedy of stunning magnitude. That would send the right signals besides establishing some semblance of credibility of the Punjab Government under the leadership of Capt. Amrinder Singh.
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