Another stampede. More innocent lives lost. And yet again—no resignations, no real accountability.
The horrific stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium during RCB’s IPL 2025 victory celebration is the latest entry in a long list of preventable crowd disasters across India. 11 people dead. Dozens injured. The country grieves—but is anyone listening?
While politicians spar over whose tragedy was worse—Chinnaswamy or Kumbh—the average citizen is left asking a more important question: Why does nothing ever change?
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah responded to the criticism with what many are calling a tone-deaf remark: “50-60 people died in Kumbh Mela… Did I criticise?” That was enough to ignite a storm on social media. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi shot back, saying, “People died, but you continued to celebrate. Why did your Deputy CM go to receive the team?”
Meanwhile, the public continues to voice frustration. A user on X pointed out the absurdity of the debate: comparing a religious gathering of over 60 crore at the Maha Kumbh to a crowd of 2–3 lakh people at a cricket stadium with a 35,000-seat capacity is like comparing apples and elephants. Both demand planning—but on different scales and with different protocols.
Harsh Goenka’s post summed it up best: “Dozens die. No resignations. No accountability. No lessons. In India, the life of a common man isn’t priceless, it’s worthless.”
The issue here isn't who failed worse—it’s the repetitive cycle of failure. Whether it's a temple during a festival, a railway station, or a cricket celebration, the outcome is the same. Massive crowds, poor management, delayed medical response, and then a postmortem of blame-shifting.
Where are the resignations? Where are the new protocols? Where is the leadership?
India cannot afford to treat crowd safety as an afterthought anymore. The value of a life should not depend on whether a stampede happens in Prayagraj or Bengaluru. It should not matter if the cause is a holy dip or a cricket parade. What matters is that people keep dying—and nothing changes.
It’s time we stop asking “Where else has this happened?” and start demanding “How will we make sure this never happens again?”
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