Kolkata: A West Bengal minister tweaked a famous Shahrukh Khan movie dialogue to dismiss as a “petty matter” the injuries to seven people in a stampede outside the Eden Gardens during Tuesday’s felicitation to Indian Premier League (IPL) winners Kolkata Knight Riders.
It was chaotic outside the stadium as thousands of people struggled to get inside, often breaking barricades and giving the vastly outnumbered police force a harrowing time.
The security personnel resorted to frequent pushing and shoving and even cane charged the crowds to disperse them.
Reacting to the incident, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim urged the media to focus on the grand spectacle inside rather than the “petty matter” that happened outside.
“Badi-badi events mein chhoti-chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain [in big events, minor things do happen],” Hakim said, tweaking Shahrukh Khan’s dialogue from the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
“Our own team KKR has won. Lakhs [hundreds of thousands] of people are happy watching this felicitation ceremony, you should focus on the grand spectacle, so what if 10 people fell down,” Hakim told media persons.
A TV grab, however, showed one of the stampedes happened after the minister standing outside the stadium instructed police to remove the barricades and let the people into the ground.
Sports Minister Madan Mitra defended the strict police action. “What can police do if there is a tsunami of people? If police didn’t take action, then there could have been a stampede,” Mitra said, claiming over 200,000 people came for the event.
Amid a shower of pink confetti and a deafening roar, Shah Rukh Khan lauded the tremendous love and support of the city’s fans for the Kolkata Knight Riders as he partied and threw kisses during a grand felicitation ceremony.
The home team, flanked by team owners Khan and Juhi Chawla, paraded the golden Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy for the over 50,000 fans in the historic arena, while around 150,000 people stood outside, unable to make it to the stadium.
The crowd went wild as King Khan, donning a hat, blew kisses, waved and did a few steps of his popular song Lungi Dance atop an elevated podium.
An exuberant Juhi walked with the players as KKR’s anthem Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo was sung in the background by singer Usha Uthup.
“I don’t think any other state or any other country in the world has this kind of support or love for sporting heroes. So thank you Kolkata for supporting us through thick and thin,” said the Bollywood Baadshah, who reached the venue nearly three hours late due to a technical snag in his flight yet drew tremendous applause from the adoring crowd on his arrival.
Condemning the police action, the Congress and the BJP demanded a probe into the cane-charging on the crowds.
“All my happiness of KKR becoming champions turned sour after seeing innocent people, including women and children, being battered by police. There is an immediate need to probe the cane-charging by police,” Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya said.
“We condemn the attitude of police and demand an immediate inquiry into the incident,” state BJP president Rahul Sinha said.
