Revision as of 11:45, 16 July 2018

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

Subsidies

Some pilgrimages subsidised by state, central govts.

SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR, Why only Haj? End subsidies for all pilgrims, January 21, 2018: The Times of India

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.