Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 28: Two top leaders of actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) including his close aide N Anand and the party’s joint general secretary CT Nirmal Kumar, have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the stampede at a rally in Karur on Friday evening with the death toll going up to 40 with more than 100 injured.
Besides N Anand, a former MLA from Puducherry popularly known as Bussy Anand because he represented the Bussy seat in the Puducherry Assembly, and effectively the Number 2 in the party after the president, the noted Tamilian actor Vijay, and Mr Nirmal Kumar, the party’s Karur West district secretary Mathiyazhagan and 3 others have also been named in the police case.
The case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 109 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 125 (b) (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), 223 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant). They have also been charged under the Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act. The case booked on a complaint lodged by the Karur Town Police Inspector, said police sources.
The stampede took place at the rally when Vijay was addressing the crowd as part of his State-wide political tour. In a social media post later, Vijay called the tragedy an irreparable loss and said “no words of comfort can truly ease the pain of losing loved ones.” He also announced ₹20 lakh would be given to the families of each of those who died and ₹2 lakh to those injured and undergoing treatment.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh from PMNRF to be given to the next of kin, and ₹50,000 to the injured. Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin has announced a solatium of ₹10 lakh to the families of those who died in the stampede, and ₹1 lakh for those who were injured.
The Tamil Nadu Government has announced judicial inquiry commission to be headed by retired Judge Aruna Jagadeesan to probe into the circumstances that led to the stampeded, Chief Minister MK Stalin said. Justice Aruna Jagadeesan promptly began her inquiry on Sunday with a visit to the venue of the Saturday’s meeting at Velusamypuram in Karur.
Rajya Sabha member and DMK MP K.R.N. Rajeshkumar submitted a petition to Namakkal District Collector on Sunday demanding compensation for four Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) cadres getting treatment in hospitals after fainting during the TVK rally.
The DMK-led state government has slammed the actor-politician and alleged that safety guidelines were violated at his rally, leading to the tragedy. Sources in the state government have said the organisers did not make proper arrangements for drinking water and food. This led to people in the crowd fainting.
Vijay, the sources said, reached the venue about 7 hours late. Men, women and children had started gathering at the venue since noon, but the actor arrived after 7 pm. And a crowd accompanied him into the already-cramped location. Government sources said supporters violated police guidelines and followed his vehicle to approach the stage.
Even while Vijay was speaking, some people collapsed, but the speech continued and ambulances were not allowed into the venue, the sources have said. The sources said Vijay left for Trichy airport after the rally and flew to Chennai by a private flight. An advocate for TVK has stressed that the party followed all police guidelines at the rally. He said the tragedy has hit Vijay hard and that he loves the people of Tamil Nadu.
The Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday expressed grief over the Karur stampede. Reacting to the crowd crush, the senior Congress leader said such tragedies highlight flaws in the country’s crowd management. He called on both the central and state governments to create strict rules and safety protocols for large gatherings to prevent future incidents.
“It’s a very tragic and painful situation. Something is wrong in our country with crowd management. Every year, there seems to be an incident. We remember Bengaluru. It is very heart-breaking when we hear children being killed in these stampedes,” Tharoor told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
“For me, the argument is about what can we do as a systematic policy nationally to protect ordinary people. People go in a spirit to listen to a politician who happens to be a movie star, or to see cricketers, who are also stars for us, the basic thing should be that there should be certain rules, standards, and protocols in place,” he said.
“At the same time I earnestly appeal to the central government and all state governments to agree on a set of very strict procedures governing all large crowds in any circumstances so that we do not needlessly suffer the grief and anguish of loved ones being lost in these terrible stampedes,” he added.