Pilgrimages: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Deaths during pilgrimages
From the archives of ‘‘The Times Of India’’: 2008
August 27, 2003 : 41 pilgrims killed and 150 injured at Kumbh Mela on banks of Godavari in Nasik
November 4, 2006 : Four killed and 24 hurt at Badaosha fest in Puri
October 14, 2007 : Eleven killed and 30 injured at Mahakali temple on Pavagadh hill near Vadodara in Gujarat
January 3, 2008 : Six killed and 12 injured at Kanakadurga temple in Indrakeeladri near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh
March 27, 2008 : Nine killed and 10 hurt at a religious fair in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh
July 4, 2008 : Six killed and 10 injured during Rath Yatra in Puri
Measures taken by shrine authorities
From the archives of The Times of India: 2008
CROWD CONTROL
Steps taken by religious places in order to avoid disaster vary. Some put CCTVs to keep tabs on visitors, while others allow devotees in batches and engage volunteers to man the traffic flow
Tirupati: ANDHRA PRADESH
Volume of devotees : 60-80,000/day
Crowd Management
Crowd segregated at two spots Proper resting places for pilgrims to avoid crowding on the hill A team led by the deputy executive officer and assisted by more than 250 officials control and guide the devotees No major disaster ever
Shravanabelagola: KARANATAKA
Volume of devotees : More than 25 lakh during week-long Mahamastakabhisheka, once in 12 years
Crowd Management
Permanent barricade steps Separate paths for entry and exit Thousands of volunteers to guide and control the crowd Passes given to all visitors No stampede ever
Golden Temple: PUNJAB
Volume of devotees : 10,000per day. On Saturday and Sunday, the figure goes up to 2.5-2.75 lakh
Crowd Management
People allowed in batches of 30-40 devotees at a time to enter the sanctum sanctorum Barricades for managing the crowd Sevadars deployed keep a watch on crowds No stampede ever
Somnath: GUJARAT
Volume of devotees : About year 200,000 visit the temple on Shivratri
Crowd Management
Pilgrims staggered through phases and segregated in queues Pilgrims not allowed to gather at one place Pilgrims jumping the queue sent back to the end of the line No stampede ever
Kamakhya Temple: ASSAM
Volume of devotees : 3,000on a normal day. During February-March, the number goes up to 10,000 per day. During Ambubachi festival, the figure goes up to 800,000
Crowd Management
Fencing along the path to ensure that queues aren’t broken
Local police and homeguards keep a watch
No major disaster
Ajmer Sharif: RAJASTHAN
Volume of devotees: 10-12,000 every day. About 4-5 lakh people every day during the Urs period
Crowd Management
Special magistrates take care of law and order Pilgrims allowed to enter the mazar on a rotation basis One gate for entry, two for exit
Regulation/ management by the government
As in 2018
July 16, 2018: The Times of India
The annual Amarnath pilgrimage is inarguably a tough expedition in the best of conditions. Pilgrimage in 2018 has seen its share of casualties and a temporary halt to pilgrims’ movement. A look at how government regulates the Amarnath trek and other pilgrimages
Why does government regulate the Amarnath Yatra?
Before 2000, there wasn’t much government intervention in the yatra. A heavy downpour in 1996 resulted in the death of about 250 yatris. Subsequently, the Nitish Sengupta Committee was set up to enquire into the deaths. After it was decided that the government should intervene, the J&K Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Act 2000 was passed that provided for the setting up of a board to manage the yatra. The Act states that the 10-member board is to be headed by the governor of J&K if he is a Hindu. A non-Hindu governor is supposed to nominate an eminent Hindu from the state to head the board, which also has government officials on deputation as its members.
How is the Haj pilgrimage regulated?
The Haj pilgrimage works on a quota basis. Saudi authorities usually allocate 1,000 places for every million Muslim persons per country. As a result, the overwhelming majority of Haj berths go to Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The Haj Committee of India regulates the state-wise quota based on the state’s Muslim population. Until last year, Haj was subsidised by the Centre with discounts on Air India flights and other forms of assistance provided. From this year, the subsidy has been discontinued.
How is the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra organised?
For this yatra, 18 batches of 60 pilgrims take the Lipulekh Pass route (at the border of Uttarakhand and Tibet). A further 10 batches of 50 pilgrims each take the Nathu La route (at the border between Sikkim and Tibet). The pilgrims’ list is finalised in a computerised draw. Government appoints liaison officers for each batch to coordinate with Indian and Chinese authorities. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police provides security, medical assistance to the yatris.
Does the Centre subsidise the Kailash Mansoravar and Amarnath yatras?
According to a parliamentary question, government of India does not extend any direct monetary subsidy to individual pilgrims for the Amarnath and Kailash Manasarovar yatras. But the foreign ministry assists, on a self-financing basis, pilgrims for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra by providing facilities like transportation, accommodation, food, medical tests, guides, etc. News reports also state that the Kailash Mansoravar yatra is subsidised by some state governments.
Subsidies
Some pilgrimages subsidised by state, central govts.
I welcome the abolition of the government subsidy for Haj pilgrims. The Constitution says the Indian state is secular, and forbids discrimination on religious grounds. So, the state should keep its distance from all religious groups, and not subsidise any.
The Haj subsidy was always a violation of this principle. No wonder the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that it should be phased out. The BJP has long called the subsidy a case of “minority appeasement”. The Modi government has now decided to abolish it outright.
However, a secular state that bans Haj subsidies should surely ban subsidies for any pilgrims of any religion. Such a non-discriminatory ban would represent secular non-appeasement.
Instead the Modi government itself last year launched the Punyadham Yatra scheme, subsidising transport and accommodation for pilgrims to Puri, Vrindavan, Ajmer Sharif, Mathura and Vaishno Devi. With what face can Modi abolish one pilgrim subsidy (calling it appeasement), but create others (without calling them appeasement too)?
Modi supporters may point out that the list includes a Muslim destination, Ajmer Sharif. So what? Appeasing multiple religious groups is as wrong as subsidising one. Favouring some destinations over others is also discriminatory.
The Modi government is actually a latecomer to the subsidy bandwagon. Many state governments have been giving pilgrim subsidies for years. Madhya Pradesh, an early leader, launched its pilgrim subsidy in 2012, aimed at senior citizens too poor to pay income tax. One lakh seats were available through lottery for visits to selected Hindu shrines plus Ajmer Sharif and Velankanni Church.
The scheme was marketed as secular because it included non-Hindu destinations. But it still left out several religions and pilgrimage centres. Why should the state be picking and choosing among religions or pilgrimage centres? Such selectivity necessarily entails discrimination in favour of some and against others.
The sad fact is that Ajmer is included in the pilgrim list of several governments not out of secular fervour but to avoid accusations of religious discrimination that might attract court sanctions. Is Ajmer more sacred to Muslims than Mecca? Are Muslim pilgrims to Ajmer more deserving than pilgrims to Mecca? Not in any way. And yet the very politicians that condemn the Haj subsidy as “minority appeasement” are cynical enough to include Ajmer in their own pilgrim subsidy list.
The subsidies provided by other states are too numerous to be listed fully. News reports say UP gives no less than Rs 1 lakh per pilgrim for Kailash Mansarovar. In Uttarakhand, the Congress government started the Mere Buzurg Mere Teerth scheme in 2014, which the subsequent BJP government expanded. Gujarat has subsidised Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims since 2001, and (along with several other states) has also been subsidising the Sindhu Yatra (to see the Indus river in Ladakh). Both Congress and BJP governments have introduced pilgrim subsidies in Karnataka, Assam and Rajasthan. Tamil Nadu, ruled by neither Congress nor BJP, has subsidies for Hindu pilgrims to Mansarovar and Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem. The BJP government in Odisha subsidises pilgrims to destinations across India.
In sum, all political parties, Congress and non-Congress, are waist-deep in subsidies for pilgrims of several religions. The subsidies are not a specialty of religion-based parties. They are handed out by many parties calling themselves secular, and even by parties (like DMK and AIADMK) claiming to be rationalist. This is cynical vote-bank politics, exactly what the Haj subsidy was for the Congress.
Such subsidies would be struck down as violative of the Constitution in countries like the US or France. The courts in those countries take care to separate the state from religious activity, even though the US has a strong Christian lobby. In India there is no principled adherence to separation of the state and religion. Even those politicians calling themselves secular fundamentalists have been reluctant to condemn the Haj subsidy, or state pilgrim subsidies.
Now, many people wishing to go on pilgrimages may find it difficult to meet the expense. But a “teerth yatra” is supposed to be difficult. Many rationalists and atheists have no pilgrimage centre. A subsidy for religious pilgrims amounts to discrimination against rationalists and atheists, violating Constitutional guarantees of equality of faiths (yes, atheism too is a faith).
All religions have large, formal institutions with ample coffers. Some Indian temples and wakf boards are enormously rich. Why should these religious bodies not be held responsible to subsidise poor pilgrims of their own community? They already get massive tax breaks. Let these be used to help poor pilgrims.
