Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 29: Days after the stampede at Karur on Saturday which the Tamil Nadu police claimed was caused by a “deliberate display of political power” by actor and TVK chief Vijay, the Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced on Monday that rules and guidelines would be framed for public events held by political parties and other organisations.
Once the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan judicial inquiry commission submit its report, consultations would be held with all political parties and other organisations to frame the rules and guidelines, he said. The death toll in the stampede had gone up to 41 on Monday with the death in the hospital of an injured in the tragedy.
In a recorded video clip posted on his social media handle, Mr Stalin said: “It is our collective duty to frame rules and guidelines to be followed by political parties and other organisations when they organise such events. So, I assure you that these rules and guidelines will be framed once the report from the Commission of Inquiry is received and after consultations are held with all political parties and organisations. I hope everyone will extend their cooperation in this regard.” “I assure you that the government’s course of action will depend on the report submitted by the Commission,” he added.
Referring to unverified claims and speculations circulating on social media in connection with the Karur tragedy, Mr Stalin advised people to exercise restraint and refrain from making irresponsible or malicious comments. “I have been noticing the rumours and fake news being spread by some people on social media. No political leader would ever wish for their party cadre or innocent people to lose their lives. Regardless of which party the deceased belonged to, as far as I am concerned, they are Tamils. So, I urge everyone to avoid making irresponsible and malicious comments.”
Contending that human lives are above all else, Mr Stalin, who is also the president of the DMK, said: “Let us set aside our political positions, differing ideologies, and personal enmities. I appeal to everyone to think about the welfare of the people. Tamil Nadu has been a pioneer on various fronts in the country. It is our collective responsibility to prevent such incidents from recurring.”
The Chief Minister further said: “We have lost 41 lives, including women and children. We have announced a solatium of ₹10 lakh and have been disbursing it. We are also providing complete medical treatment to those injured in the incident.”
The Karur stampede was a “major tragedy,” an “unprecedented tragedy,” and one that “should not recur,” Mr Stalin said. Recalling his visit to a hospital in Karur, he said he still could not get over the incident, and that his heart remained heavy and anguished. Even after issuing instructions to the district administration to take immediate action, Mr Stalin said he could not remain at home and therefore decided to leave for Karur.
The Tamil Nadu police in the FIR filed against some TVK leaders holding the, responsible for the tragedy, pointed out that the rally was to start at 9 am and by 11 am a large crowd had gathered. The actor-politician Vijay was scheduled to speak at noon, but he turned up only at 7 pm – four hours after they were told he would reach – having delayed his arrival to build ‘unnecessary expectations.’
The bus carrying Vijay, the cops said, made multiple unscheduled stops, a de facto roadshow for which no permission was sought, and TVK leaders, including the actor and senior figure N ‘Bussy’ Anand, an ex-Puducherry MLA, ignored warnings about the lack of food, water, and facilities for the crowd. The campaign bus’ frequent, and unplanned, stops also disrupted traffic, the police said.
The FIR referenced one of the several tragedies that unfolded Sunday evening; it said TVK workers broke police barriers – set up to control the crowd and prevent disasters such as the stampede – climbed on the tin roof of a shed, presumably to catch a glimpse of the actor. Unfortunately, the roof collapsed and the TVK workers were killed.
The stampede has led to a political row between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, which will make its electoral debut in next year’s Assembly election. The TVK has blamed the stampede on a ‘conspiracy’ orchestrated by the DMK.
The TVK as filed a petition in the Madras High Court urging it to either set up a special team to investigate the stampede or transfer the case to the CBI, a federal agency. “There was a conspiracy, a criminal conspiracy in the incident at Karur…” the TVK lawyer claimed trashing the DMK’s claim the TVK violated crowd safety guidelines. “We didn’t violate conditions imposed by the police,” he said, pointing to rallies at Madurai, Trichy, Ariyalur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, and Namakkal that were held without incident.
The DMK has refrained from commenting on the conspiracy charge. Dr Syed Hafeezullah, the party’s spokesperson, said, “We don’t want to politicise this. The law will take its course. Those who level such allegations should first introspect how their party leadership behaved.”
Vijay’s TVK has also hit out at the police over its handling of the stampede. Party leader Aadhav Arjun claimed the electricity supply was turned off in the middle of VIjay’s speech, creating panic that “anti-social elements (which had) infiltrated the crowd” exploited by throwing stones. He also claimed ambulances were driven into the crowd and the police resorted to a lathi charge, which triggered chaos.
On the electricity supply claim, the Electricity Department said power supply was uninterrupted but the TVK had arranged for generators and focus lights, and these were disrupted as the crowd surged. On Sunday night, in the hours immediately after the stampede, the police rejected claims it had failed to control the crowd despite 500 personnel having been deployed to the rally site.
“The Karur event was categorised as high-risk. We deployed 500 personnel in the ratio of one cop for every 50 people, anticipating 25,000 people. Ultimately nearly 27,000 people turned up,” Davidson Devasirvatham, the Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order), said.
The top cop also pointed out a recent rally in Karur by AIADMK chief Edappadi Palaniswami had no problem, despite only 137 personnel having been deployed, because it was an “orderly crowd.” However, he admitted the situation was chaotic on Sunday. “We couldn’t even move the injured through the crowd. Even Vijay himself could not be taken out,” Devasirvatham said.