MyVoice: Views of our readers 11th January 2025

Tirupati stampede a very sad incident

Stampedes are not unusual at places of worship in India because of the huge crowds at any event. We as a rule are undisciplined at waiting in queues for our turn and are prone to pushing and jostling when it is not needed. The least disturbance can spark off a debate and it has become imperative at places of devotion across all religions to adopt modern techniques for managing and controlling crowds. Ideally, there should be no VIPs at the religious places because all are equal in the eyes of God. Unfortunately, we have seen how the rich and famous get preferential treatment, while others have to wait long hours for darshan. And while on Tirupati, whatever happened to the allegations of animal fat in the prasad? The people have a right to know if it was a mere political ploy!

Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

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Overall, as the facts started getting unfolded, the NDA government appeared to be busy throwing the blame on the previous government for starting the practice of issuing tokens for Vaikunta Dwara Darshan. The strangest reaction came from Home Minister Anita; according to her, there could be a conspiracy behind the incident. In fact, she was echoing TTD chairman’s thoughts! With the wily CBN at the helm of affairs, what great things could be expected, rather it would be the opposite and anti-climax as the FIRs state that “sudden rush” of devotees led to the stampede deaths. Whereas the ordeal narrated by the eyewitness victims speaks otherwise. Instead of owning up their responsibility, the top brass seem to be busy identifying some scapegoats and also throw some blame on the political rivals. A very sad situation as far as law and order in the state is concerned.

Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

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Hans editorial “Tragedy in Tirupati: Failure in Crowd Management and Safety” (10-01-2025) has dealt with right portion as far as fixing responsibility on TTD, police and AP govt. We cannot say the authorities at Tirupati played irresponsibly. The conspicuous absence in your editorial is not attaching any responsibility on the devotees who jostled one another other and killed six devotees under their feet and causing grievous injuries to some others. How then this day is an auspicious one (Vaikuntha Ekadasi) when death occurred? Garikipati Narasimha Rao more than often explicitly clarified that punyam (piety) cannot be attained by visiting temples and taking dips in Ganga river without purity of mind. Intolerant on the mad and mindless rush (I don’t like to call them devotees) and mercilessly pushing us back and front, our couple returned without having darshan a few years ago.

N Ramalakshmi, Secunderabad

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Sadly enough, the sacred shrine of Tirumala witnessed two tragic events within a span of a week – resulting in the loss of life of almost ten pilgrims. What is important is to find ways to avoid such incidents from happening in future. The unfortunate incident that happened while waiting for tokens for Vaikunta Dwara Darshan was unprecedented, and was said to have happened due to deviation from established protocol. There is vital need for efficient crowd control and safety arrangements in place by the TTD, and it falls upon the authorities concerned to foresee and gauge the mood of the devotees during vital events that the general public eagerly look forward to – like Vaikunta Dwara Darshan at the holy shrine of Tirumala.

S Lakshmi, Hyderabad

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“The Tirupathi stampede is indeed a wake-up call for the UP government to prioritise advanced crowd management system at the Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj, with an expected 40 crore pilgrims attending this mega event starting from 13th January to 26th February, as potential risks will be enormous (Tirupati stampede - Hans India dt 10-1-25). To mitigate these risks, the government should indeed study past stampede cases, identify potential threats and develop strategies to address the issues and also effective crowd management requires a multifaceted approach by using AI and advanced surveillance systems. These initiatives should demonstrate the UP government’s seriousness and commitment to ensuring a safe and successful Mahakumbh Mela without any human loss.

Ganti Venkata Sudhir, Secunderabad

Spare a thought for farmers’ plight

While farmers toil hard to give us food are carelessly denied MSP for their valuable produce, cinema ticket rates were allowed to be raised just for entertainment and satisfaction of the actors. While vegetables in the market are not provided any cover when it rains, cricket grounds are equipped with sophisticated covering system just for a game which is losing its sheen of late. There are many examples of this kind in society. People must think more than the leaders.

M Chandrasekhar, Kadapa