Bengaluru Stampede : Is someone trying to shield the guilty?
Karnataka government suspended Bengaluru police commissioner B. Dayananda and four other senior police officials citing serious lapses in planning during RCB victory parade. Police has filed FIRs against Karnataka State Cricket Association, event management company DNA Entertainment and Royal Challengers Bengaluru franchise.
Nikhil Sosale, the marketing head of RCB, and two officials from DNA entertainment company, Sunil Mathew and Kiran Kumar, have been arrested by police.
Retired High Court judge Michael D’Cunha will head a one-man judicial commission to probe into the circumstances leading to the stampede.
While the judicial commission has been asked to give its report within 30 days, facts that have emerged on Thursday reveal grave lapses that caused the tragic deaths of 11 cricket fans.
There are reports that Bengaluru Police had earlier declined to give permission to hold the victory parade at such short notice, but phone calls from senior ministers, particularly Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, to police officials forced the latter to allow holding the event at short notice.
Karnataka government’s counsel failed to give correct answers to queries raised by the High Court on Thursday. The counsel tried to argue that the event was not organised by the state government, but by the RCB and KSCA.
The High Court was told 1,483 police personnel were deployed at the stadium, while more than 2.5 lakh fans had assembled outside. Since the High Court will hear this matter on June 10, the state government has now suspended the city police commissioner and other IPS officials, while arresting the organisers from RCB and the event company.
It seems that the Karnataka government is trying to hide the truth about the unfortunate tragedy that took place. Is the government trying to shield somebody and make others scapegoats? D.K. Shivakumar is a Bengaluru resident. He knows the people and this city like the back of his hand. He knew what would happen if several lakh youths reach a single location to see Virat Kohli and his team.
Is it not a fact that police had suggested holding the celebration on Sunday?
Is it not a fact that senior police officials told ministers that most of the police force was already exhausted due to nightlong celebrations by RCB fans?
Did D.K. Shivakumar ignore police warning and insisted that the event be held the very next day because most of the international players in RCB were not willing to wait for three days? Both RCB and KSCA officials were in constant touch with Shivakumar, and it seems that the deputy chief minister was the main organiser of the event.
Karnataka High Court has done the right thing in posing specific questions. One of the highlights of this entire episode is that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah kept himself away from managing the event. The CM may now use this tragedy to corner his known detractor D.K. Shivakumar politically. He has left no room for Shivakumar to say that the tragedy should not be politicized.
India’s New Normal: Death for terrorists and their handlers
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, at an event in the US embassy in Islamabad, praised President Donald Trump for his role in, what he said, “helping de-escalate tensions with India”, a claim that India has publicly denied. Shehbaz Sharif urged the US to facilitate a comprehensive dialogue between India and Pakistan.
Watching the remarks of the Pakistani PM, his foreign minister and PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, it seems both the government and army in Pakistan have reposed their entire faith in the US in the hope that they would be saved from India’s wrath.
Shehbaz Sharif said, “Alhamdulillah (By the mercy of Allah), there is now ceasefire and I hope and pray to God that this ceasefire should continue for long, so that we can get time for trade, investment and growth….I am very much impressed by President Trump’s vision who wants to bring trade, investment and tariff on a rational footing. It is like a fresh breath of air”.
In New York, Sharif’s main envoy Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, addressing NRPs (Non-resident Pakistanis) hoped that Trump would persuade India to start talks with Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaza Asif has said that Pakistan has decided to walk out of 1972 Shimla Agreement with India and go back to 1948 position on Kashmir. Asif said, this step was taken because India has suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.
Watching the remarks of Pakistani leaders, one must understand the difference in approach of both India and Pakistan:
Pakistan PM is asking Trump to persuade India to start a dialogue, while our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, there was neither any role for a third country in the past, nor will there be any such role in future.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister wants a comprehensive dialogue with India, while Indian External Affairs Minister has clearly said, if at all there will be talks, it will be on handing over wanted terrorist leaders and return of Pak Occupied Kashmir to India.
Pakistan’s request to the US is that it should ensure that the current ceasefire remains permanent, while India has clearly said that there is only a ‘pause’ in military operations and Operation Sindoor will continue.
Pakistan’s leaders are praising Trump as a Man of Peace, who stalled a nuclear war, while India’s stand is clear: whosoever may have talked to anybody, the firings and air attacks were put on ‘pause’ at the request of Pakistan army’s DGMO.
Pakistan wants an international level probe into the Pahalgam massacre, while India has clearly said, there are evidence of Pakistan’s involvement and there is no need for a probe nor is there any need for handing over evidence to Pakistan. India has said, whenever evidence was shared with Pakistan in the past, it used them to help the terrorists.
On one hand, all the leaders of Pakistan are going head over heels in praising Trump, but on the other hand, not a single mature leader from India has given any importance to Trump’s claims.
India’s policy is clear: We are not going to be blackmailed by nuclear threats. The entire territory of Pakistan is now within the range of our missiles. Our armies have gone deep inside Pakistan to strike, and if any big terrorist attack takes place again, Pakistan will break up into pieces.
Social media influencers : Be careful of Pakistan’s ISI
It seems the Pakistan’s espionage agency ISI has given charge of setting up a network of moles and spies inside India to a female travel agent, nicknamed ‘Madam N’ alias Naushaba Shehzad Masood of Lahore, who runs an agency named Jaiyana Travel. It was she who ‘recruited’ alleged spies in India like Jyoti Malhotra, Jasbir Singh, Gagandeep Singh and Shakoor Khan.
Delhi Police claims, during interrogation of social media influencers arrested in this espionage case, it was revealed that Madam N was trying to set up a chain of sleeper cells inside India. Her phone number was saved by several media influencers here. Jyoti Malhotra and Jasbir Singh have admitted they met Naushaba in Lahore, who set up meetings with Pakistani army, police and ISI officers.
Naushaba’s main targets were social media influencers and travel bloggers. She used to arrange Pakistan visas for them from her contacts like Danish, First Secretary Suhail Qamar and Trade Counsellor Umar Shaharyar, in the High Commission in Delhi. A single phone call from Naushaba was enough to get a Pakistan visa.
Running a travel agency is not a crime, but carrying out espionage in the guise of travel is a crime. Becoming a YouTuber and making reels is not a crime, but to pass on sensitive info about India to Pakistan is a crime.
Pakistan’s modus operandi is clear. ISI handlers focused on friendships with YouTubers and travel bloggers, offered them visas to travel across Pakistan and introduced them to ISI officers for the purpose of information gathering.
Sadly, these YouTubers sold their conscience for a fistful of money and betrayed their motherland. Such persons should not be forgiven. They are traitors and must not be spared. At the same time, any innocent Indian must not be punished because of inadequate evidence.
Deaths in Bengaluru stampede: Why did celebrations continue ?
The tragedy that took place near Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday was unfortunate. A huge crowd of Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans swarmed to the stadium to join the maiden IPL victory celebration and a stampede broke out near Gate 7. Women and children were crushed to death and many collapsed due to asphyxiation.
While fans were being trampled upon outside the stadium gate, the Karnataka chief minister was busy getting his photos and videos taken with RCB captain Virat Kohli and his team inside the stadium. While screaming fans were crying out for help after being crushed in the stampede 100 meters away, the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister was getting his reel made carrying the IPL Cup with RCB players.
With no ambulance in sight, desperate fans carried the injured people on their shoulders to nearby hospitals. The organisers of IPL victory celebration knew that a big stampede had broken out, innocent people were dying and those injured were crying out in pain in hospitals, and yet, the celebrations continued inside the stadium.
The deputy chief minister said, there was no lapse on part of his police. He said, police did not know that a huge crowd would descend to the stadium. This remark was like putting salt to the wounds.
Throughout the world, it is the duty of police to keep track of crowds and anticipate the number of people who would converge at a given location. When thousands of RCB fans came out on the streets of Bengaluru on Tuesday night to celebrate their team’s IPL win, it should have been enough for police and authorities to make a fair calculation about the number of people that would come to watch its team carrying the IPL Cup at the victory parade.
On Wednesday morning, when RCB team arrived at Bengaluru airport carrying the IPL Cup, a huge crowd of fans was present. By that time, police could have made an assessment about how many fans would turn out when the victory parade would reach the stadium. By afternoon, a huge crowd of people had already assembled near the Vidhan Soudha. Police could have anticipated what would happen if a crowd bigger than this would try to reach the stadium.
Deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar is an experienced administrator. He should have known the arrangements that should have been put in place. The fact is, both the Chief Minister and Deputy CM were in a hurry to celebrate the victory and get their pictures and videos snapped with Virat Kohli and his team. The celebration was organised in a hurry. Police did not get time to make a proper ‘bandobust’ (arrangement). The unfortunate tragedy took place. Neither the cricket team nor the fans should be blamed for the stampede.
It is the police and administration which is responsible for this tragedy. Accountability must be fixed.