It would be blasphemy to say anything regarding religion, but a religious gathering took 116 lives and injured more than 150 people in a stampede at Hathras, UP, India. The reason behind this stampede is told by locals that a huge number of people rushed together to touch the feet of Bhola Baba (a religious preacher). Those who did not succeed in touching the feet of a religious saint, instead tried to pick up grains of soil under his feet are said to have created a stampede in the fervour of religious sentiment.
Permission for a religious congregation given by the administration was given to around 40,000 people, but more than one lakh people were present in the Satsang. Many formulas are being formed to explain this stampede, which took many lives and injured more than 150 people.
Despite such a horror accident, the religious preacher ran away from the Satsang where the incidence took place. People gathered here in hope of faith that the Bhola Baba would whisper away all their sorrows from life and Baba did not show any remorse over stampede. This is the beauty of religion that makes Baba scot-free and unquestionable.
The preacher is widely known by his followers as Bhole Baba. His social media accounts give his identification as Narayan Sakar Hari. He was once a government employee as constable, but he left his job in 1990 and started organizing 'Satsang' in the Aligarh and Braj regions of Uttar Pradesh.
Following the government protocol, state CM Yogi Adityanath announced ex gratia of INR 2 lakh to the deceased family and INR 50,000 for the injured. Hathras is a district of Uttar Pradesh that has very limited facilities to deal with such a huge tragedy. Local assistance and shifting the injured people to adjacent areas appear to be the only solutions for the time being. An FIR has been lodged, but Bhole Baba's name is missing in it.
The Hathras District Administration has also provided the public with helpline numbers, 05722227041 and 05722227042, in the wake of the accident.
Follow up Development 18th July 2024:
Nearly after three weeks of stampede, the self-styled godman came out of the den to absolve himself of the responsibilities and uttered brazenly to ANI, “What happened was destined to happen and will be bound to happen; no one can stop it. One who enters the world will eventually leave." These words were expressed by Suraj Pal, aka Bole Baba, over the grim accident that has claimed 121 lives so far.
Since he is a self-proclaimed godman, he does not hold any responsibility for such a huge mismanagement and does not show any kind of remorse over the stampede. Despite this, he proposes a stereotype theory of conspiracy—a poisonous spray. A special investigating team (SIT) has been constituted to dig out the truth by the government, and everyone is waiting with bated breath.