Deadly Kumbh stampede exposes media's silence

Days after the stampede at the Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj, there is an overwhelming belief that the official death toll of 30 killed remains underreported. Chaos erupted at what is considered the largest gathering of humanity when on a full moon night, a crowd broke a police barricade.

In the urgency to take a holy dip at an auspicious time, people trampled on sleeping pilgrims as they made their way to the sacred Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the (mythical) Saraswati. Victims, including several injured, were crushed and trampled.

This year’s Kumbh — projected as a rare celestial event, one in 144 years — is estimated to attract 45 crore visitors over six weeks. Seers with ash-smeared foreheads take a holy dip alongside a surging throng of ordinary faithful converging in the melting pot of faith, spirituality and curiosity. Politics though is not far behind.

These images got a rude awakening after pictures of heart-broken families searching for their loved ones slipped through. There has been further bad news, at least two fire incidents have also been reported at the Kumbh.

As if on cue, Indian media barring notable exceptions focused on foreign nationals, politicians and celebrities at the Kumbh with no questions on administrative failure.

In India, the media has made life even cheaper. “Alzheimer’s is the seventh leading cause of death worldwide. But deaths from this disease never make Page 1 — a gruesome murder or a Kumbh stampede does. But Page 1 headlines don’t always give you the proper context,” read an editorial.

Media’s abdication

There is a sense of déjà vu in the reporting of the tragedy. It is reminiscent of the lethal second wave of Covid-19 when hundreds lost their lives, but the media chose silence and political allegiance over humanity. And so, we still don’t know the real number and likely will not.

Information is lost either out of fear or stigma. But in the last decade, the biggest factor has been the media’s abdication. Image and optics continue to be of importance for leaders both at the national and state level and Yogi Adityanath under whose aegis the pilgrimage is taking place in Uttar Pradesh has used this platform to project himself as the next big leader of the BJP.

Barely hours after the tragedy, helicopters showered rose petals on the devotees. In the days leading to the Kumbh, the Yogi government gave assurances of crowd control through ‘Digital Kumbh,’ promoted by the government as a ‘showcase of unprecedented technological advancements’ and where ‘tradition meets technology.’

This includes AI-powered security and assistance. However, the fusion of New-Age innovation including drones, with manpower has failed at the first hurdle.

Visuals near the bathing area showed congestion, they were either ignored or overlooked by the administration. Crowd control and safety are the first lines of defence in an event of this magnitude and crowd management is the real science.

Yogi’s declaration that the government wasn’t relying on ‘hypothesis’ but on ‘scientific analysis’ of daily headcounts through 3700 cameras to manage the crowd is under question as witnesses say they saw many more bodies.

Yes, not many know crowd behaviour, but safety is the right of every citizen even in mass gatherings. In New India however, negligence resulting in death is not a crime if it impacts the politics of faith. So, yet another commission has been announced. It will likely pick a few men from obscurity and make scapegoats.

In 2022 the collapse of a newly renovated colonial-era bridge killed 130 people. Oreva, the company behind it was accused of multiple lapses and four mid-level employees of the firm were made the fall guys. Expect no different this time.

800 people lost their lives in 1954, the first Kumbh after India’s independence. In 1986, at least 200 lives were lost at Haridwar. There was a stampede and casualties in two other Kumbh and it is clear that from 1954 to the present day, crucial lessons have bypassed us. In the years immediately after independence, the country struggled with resources but that did not stop Yogi from taking potshots at earlier leaders. Media outlets report that the UP government has spent Rs5,000 crore on the Maha Kumbh.

India’s response to a disaster

At the Maha Kumbh, two strains of faithful are visible. One is the surge of humanity and the other where piety is celebrated through the corridors of power and money as VIPs take a holy dip, their reverence sanitised of crowds.

Questions need to be asked whether the Yogi government spent more energy and resources making it comfortable for celebrities and ministers than the common man. And did these arrangements minimise and restrict space for the ordinary Indian who too has a prayer on his lips and spirituality in his heart?

Some reports say on the fateful night with access to many pontoon bridges restricted, only nine out of thirty bridges were open to the public.

Incidents of stampedes are not isolated to India, but the frequency is unparalleled. Moreover, the other big difference is accountability. Questions are asked and heads roll in countries where even one death is one too many.

A stampede during the special screening of the film Pushpa 2 in Hyderabad recently left a woman dead and her son battling for survival. Bizarrely, the film’s actor Allu Arjun was sent to jail. That sums up India’s response to a disaster.

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau reveal that between 2001 and 2022, India recorded more than 3500 stampede incidents, resulting in 3000 deaths. A big percentage of these were at religious gatherings.

A country of 1.4 billion can’t afford to keep getting this wrong. How many tragedies before we set it right?