Yes, Shivraj Chouhan is responsible for the MP temple stampede

In a democracy, people have to hold elected governments to account. Politics is the vehicle that brings that accountability. And when avoidable human tragedies occur repeatedly, it becomes all the more important that those in power are named and shamed. Hiding behind the flimsy excuse of ‘opposition is trying to politicise the tragedy’ is nothing but a means to avoid public accountability. This ought to be an anathema in electoral democracy.

I am of course referring to the immense tragedy near the Ratangarh Mata temple at Datia in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday which is estimated to have led to the death of nearly 200 lives (although official figures have placed the dead at 115). The death toll at Datia, which continues to mount, is among the worst since a stampede in 1954 killed 500 during the Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh. The horror stories from Datia continue that are coming out in the media can shock those with a heart of stone.

The national spokesperson of the BJP callously tried to justify the horrendous tragedy by suggesting that deaths from stampedes are relatively frequent at religious events and major gatherings in India. But he forgot that it is the second time under the same BJP government that such a tragedy has occurred at the same spot. In 2006, around 54 people died in an accident near the old wooden bridge which has now been replaced by the concrete bridge.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, has very grandly announced a judicial enquiry into the current accident, but it seems no lessons have been learnt from a similar judicial enquiry into the 2006 accident. Because more than six and a half years later, during which Shivraj Singh Chouhan government completed one full term, the report has not yet been tabled in the Assembly. Acting on that report could have certainly prevented the current tragedy.

After the 2006 accident, the BJP government set up a judicial enquiry headed by the retired high court judge SK Pandey, who submitted his report in 21 March, 2007. RTI activist Ajay Dubey said he first asked for a copy of the report three years ago but his application was turned down the ground that it was yet to be submitted on the floor of Vidhan Sabha. He claims that the Pandey report was buried after officials under-reported the death toll and downplayed the role of government officials.

In 2009, Dubey approached the information commission which directed the state government to provide him a copy which he still has not received. He finally approached the high court, which on 20 September gave the general administration department four weeks time to comply with Dubey’s request. The matter has been posted for next hearing on 18 October.

In the tragedy this weekend not only were not enough police deployed for the event, those deployed took money to allow vehicles into a ‘no vehicle’ area. Rather than controlling the surging crowd, the police chose to undertake a lathi-charge compounding the chaos.

In trying to deny that the lathi-charge ever took place, the truth about the number of policemen deployed came out. Senior police officers said that the number of policemen deployed was so few that the police would not have risked their lives by angering the crowd of lakhs of devotees. In contrast, for the BJP’s Karyakarta Mahakumb on September 25 in Bhopal, thousands of police officers were deployed for a similar turnout. Here is a government which prioritises the comfort of its party workers over the lives of poor pilgrims.

But the worst of all, horror of horrors, is the allegation the police dumped many dead bodies in the river to cover up the extent of the tragedy. This is a case of total failure of governance and the opposition would be complicit in that failure if it doesn’t hold the BJP government to account.

In the same weekend when we saw the government agencies of the centre and the states come together admirably to contain the damage caused by Cyclone Phailin, we had this regrettable and highly preventable tragedy in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP government which has not only learnt the lessons from the previous tragedy at Datia but also worked actively to prevent the enquiry report from becoming public needs to be held accountable for this misdeed. Bringing the guilty to book, both politically and judicially, will act as a deterrent to prevent a repetition of such tragedies in the future. Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh can’t be allowed to get away easily.

Editors note: Priyanka is a blogger, columnist and is on the panel of spokespersons of the All India Congress Committee. The views expressed in this column are personal.