Temple stampede: Ashram blames God for tragedy

In a brazen reaction to the stampede deaths in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district that left 63 people dead on Thursday, a spokesman of the spiritual Guru Kripalu Maharaj has blamed God for the tragedy.

But a preliminary inquiry has held the management of the ashram responsible.
The inquiry found that the organisers had not made proper arrangements for controlling the crowds and the gate of the ashram, which also had a structural fault, fell because of "lack of foresight and negligence" on their part.

Many administrative officials and politicians are disciples of Kripalu Maharaj, which could hamper any legal action against the Guru. Cases have been lodged against the manager of the ashram. "We did not invite the people to the bhandara and do not know from where the 25,000 people came," an ashram official said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, says she is short of funds to give any relief amount to the victims of the temple tragedy in which over 60 people, mostly women and children were killed.

This is in sharp contrast to the lakhs Ms Mayawati has spent on erecting statues of herself and her mentor Kanshi Ram. She has also squandered funds on installing stone elephants all over the State. The elephant is the election symbol of her Bahujan Samaj Party, which champions the cause of the downtrodden and backward castes.

Mayawati said that her state was facing an "acute financial crisis" and was not in a position to give any monetary compensation to the families of those killed or injured in Thursday's tragedy and urged the Central government to do so instead.

"In view of the acute financial crisis currently faced by the state, I am appealing to the Central government to be generous in giving away decent compensation to the families of those who have lost their lives or were injured in the unfortunate stampede at the ashram run by spiritual guru Kripaluji Maharaj in Mangarh village of Pratapgarh district," Mayawati said in a press statement issued in capital Lucknow.

"However, in case the union government expresses its inability to pay, then we will squeeze our resources to mobilise funds for the purpose," she added.

Seeking to justify her stand, the chief minister said: "The centre does provide the states with a Calamities Relief Fund (CRF), but that is meant to be utilised only towards natural disasters and not tragedies like this one."

Prime minister Manmohan Singh has announced Rs.200,000 compensation from the Prime Minister's National Relief fund for the next of kin of the victims.

- Asian Tribune -