From the New Delhi railway station stampede to the Maha Kumbh Mela crowd crush and the Bangalore IPL stampede on Wednesday — have we learnt any lessons from the tragedies? Are we willing to? Where is the accountability? How many people have been brought to book? The life of a common man in this part of the world is not priceless. It’s worthless.
As per the official account, 11 people died and scores were seriously injured around the Chinnaswamy Stadium during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory parade/celebrations yesterday. And the political blame game has started in earnest. India is not a case in isolation here. Cutting across party lines and geographic boundaries, this is probably a Third World problem.
No way this column is holding the BCCI responsible for what happened. As IPL chairman Arun Dhumal said, with regards to the cricket board, the 2025 IPL was over on Sunday, at the conclusion of the prize distribution ceremony after the final. The BCCI has no control over the private celebrations of a franchise. But this should be a wake-up call, and Board secretary Devajit Saikia has dropped a hint that going ahead, Indian cricket’s governing body might issue guidelines for franchises holding celebrations in their respective cities where large gatherings are expected.
People were dying outside the Chinnaswamy. Inside, RCB were celebrating their maiden IPL triumph, seemingly oblivious to the ambulance sirens. Several hours later, they put out a statement on their official social media handles. “We are deeply anguished by the unfortunate incidents that have come to light through media reports regarding public gatherings all over Bengaluru in anticipation of the team’s arrival this afternoon,” it said. “The safety and well-being of everyone is of utmost importance to us.”
The statement added: “RCB mourns the tragic loss of lives and extend (sic) our heartfelt condolences to the affected families. Immediately upon being made aware of the situation, we promptly amended our program (sic), and followed the guidance and advice of the local administration.”
‘Amending the programme’ was basically restricted to cancelling the press conference. In this day of technology, when almost everyone is carrying a Smartphone, RCB’s version that they weren’t aware of what was happening outside the stadium was bad enough to elicit a derisive smile even in grief.
Yes, the local administration didn’t cover itself with glory. According to eyewitnesses, the number of police personnel was insufficient to manage the swelling crowd. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said the state government didn’t expect such a big turnout, which was remiss of those in charge of law and order. Also, the administration failed to pre-empt any untoward incidents. All said and done, however, what was the hurry? RCB could well have organised it a day later, giving the state government enough time to prepare.
In a closed-shop league comprising 10 teams, they have lifted the trophy after 18 years of wait. It’s not a world title. Hopefully, perspective won’t be in short supply in the future and lessons would be learnt from this tragedy.