- 3 hours ago
In this edition of Democratic Newsroom, the focus is on the stampede in Karur, Tamil Nadu, which claimed 41 lives at TVK chief Vijay's political rally on September 27.
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00:00Hello and welcome. Good evening. You're watching Democratic Newsroom here on India Today. I'm
00:23Akshita Nanda Gopal. And this evening, I'll be joined by my colleagues to talk about what
00:28happened days ago in Tamil Nadu's Karoor. 41 lives were lost after a stampede broke out in a
00:34political rally at TVK chief Vijay's event. And since then, there have been several questions
00:39leading to, of course, who's responsible, who's accountable for what happened? Because let's be
00:44very clear, this was a man-made tragedy, this stampede that broke out at that political rally.
00:50So the question we're asking in this edition of Democratic Newsroom is blood on whose hands?
00:54Who's responsible for what happened? Joining me here in the studio, we've got Rajdeep Sardesai,
00:59Maria Shakil, Gaurav Savant, and also Pramod Madhav, who have teleported from Chennai,
01:05and Nagarjan Dwarkhanath, who have teleported from Bengaluru, to get us a perspective of
01:10what really the reactions have been from the ground. Rajdeep, I'd like to begin with you.
01:14What do you think, Rajdeep, when 41 lives are lost in a stampede of this manner,
01:20who's to blame? Is it the organiser, the administration?
01:22Look, the primary blame must go to the organisers. There is no escape. You organise a political
01:28rally, it's your job to ensure that the rally goes off smoothly. You are given a particular
01:33time by the police from 3pm to 10pm in which you can hold the rally. Your organisers, your
01:39supporters make announcements, gather at 12 in the afternoon. The actor star comes at 7, 7.30pm.
01:46And by then there is a huge rush of thousands of people. People are on treetops, people are in
01:52tin sheds. I mean, clearly the amateurishness of Vijay's campaign has been exposed. You cannot run
01:59away from that. I'm not saying the state police does not bear some responsibility. But let's not
02:04hold them primarily responsible here. Clearly, to my mind, actor Vijay and his entire team on the ground
02:10has to bear the primary responsibility, Akshita, for what went wrong. Let's not run around that.
02:18There has to be accountability fixed. And we've seen this all, you know, the celebrity stars and
02:24the star netas. We saw it in Bengaluru also with the cricket team. Fans are crazy. You've got to
02:31therefore be extra cautious because these are not just ordinary public figures.
02:35So, who should be cautious here? The administration should also be cautious, you'd say?
02:39The administration has some responsibility. But the primary responsibility in this particular
02:46case rests with a political organisation that's organising a rally. You're given a time, 3 to 10.
02:52Why are you announcing and asking people to come at 12? And then coming yourself at 7.30 in a
02:58closed-door van, maybe, you know, with a tube light showing your face in the background. I mean,
03:03you clearly were unprepared completely for what was going to happen. This was a tragedy waiting to
03:12happen because of the sheer disorganisation, I'm sorry to say, from a distance of actor star
03:19Neta Vijay's campaign. And we've seen this happen in the past with these celebrities. There is a need
03:25for a complete change in outlook. Yes, the police also will have to relook at giving such permissions
03:30in the future. But let's not blame the cops. They, from all indications, tried their best
03:35in a very, very difficult situation. Very easy to blame the policemen there.
03:39Okay. That's my view. I know you're a Vijay fan. No, no. Nah, come on.
03:44Fandom aside, when there's a tragedy with 41 lives lost, I think everyone keeps aside whether
03:49they're a fan of an actor or not. I hope so. I really hope so. I really hope so.
03:53Let me bring in Pramod Madhav. Pramod, you've covered a Vijay rally. So tell me what really
03:58do you think were the lapses that led to this particular stampede? Do you agree with what Rajdeep
04:04says? Well, I want to, like, say something before that. The first thing is that, like,
04:12what videos you saw and that we have put on TV, everything is just 10% of what happened
04:18over there. So since Twitchy, I've been constantly following it along with Anaga and Apoora as
04:23well. So even we are actually a bit traumatized with what has happened. And second thing is
04:30that, like, you know, I don't want to sugarcoat anything over here regarding what has happened
04:34because 41 lives have lost, 41 innocent lives who just want to go see the person for one
04:39second or two seconds. All they wanted is that and for that they were waiting there for nearly
04:43seven to eight hours. So I will actually, you know, what Rajdeep said, I will have to agree
04:49to that. But I want to say that, you know, you have to stack it up in such way that for what
04:54has happened, you have to first, you have to actually blame the organization. And then,
04:59you know, there is a moral responsibility for the government as well. So the second step
05:03goes to them. And the third one is that, like, if I am free, I would really request the public
05:09to be aware of the situation because we were there, we were caught up in such a situation
05:14in Twitchy as well. But we had some knowledge as to what to do because of earlier experiences.
05:19So we tried to tell the public, we deviated them because when Vijay's vehicle comes, along
05:25with that, one crowd comes. Now, imagine Vijay is not allowed or permitted to conduct a kind
05:31of roadshow. But what is happening is that on the ground, it is a roadshow and that is
05:36why there is a delay. A large crowd, a frenzy crowd comes along with them, while another crowd
05:42which is not dispersing is already there. And when they two collide only, this happens.
05:47We were amidst one such crowd in Twitchy, but this went out of hand. In a way, in a way,
05:53you know, I kind of like little bit for unfortunately, I don't know for what reason, I blame myself
05:58because somewhere I feel like I could have done something better or like educate somebody
06:03or like spoken to the team a little harder, tell them that you need to manage it, you need
06:07to manage it. But, you know, we constantly speak to them. But imagine that in a way it is
06:13actually unsettling for us. Not just me, many of the reporters in Tamil Nadu, we feel the
06:17same way and I speak for them all.
06:18Now, I think emotions are clearly running high in Tamil Nadu, especially because of the kind
06:22of images that we saw of, you know, parents running with their dead children in their arms,
06:27unsure of what to do. A child as young as two years old has died in that stampede.
06:32Gaurav, what do you think? Who is accountable for this? There is, of course, a large sentiment
06:36that believes Vijay must be held accountable. But everyone says, look, law and order is
06:41a state subject. So, hence, should the administration be held? Did they not have intel that such crowds
06:46would gather?
06:47So, intel apart, usually when a rally is held, the organizers are asked how many people do
06:53expect. And in this case, they expected 10,000 and more than 25,000 or between 20 and 25,000
06:58came there. But the administration is supposed to know. You know, the first thing any administrative
07:04service officer learns is how to manage crowds because that's exactly what they do all their
07:09careers. And if they cannot manage crowd, it's the administration to blame. Of course, organizers
07:14have to give the correct information. They have to follow certain norms. But there are standard
07:19operating procedures that are laid out. If those are not followed, then there will be
07:24a problem. You know, it's very easy to blame the actor or to blame, you know, the politician
07:30especially who is younger in the game and is only getting there. He also has to be guided
07:37by certain systems to work there. But if I may, when a tragedy happens in Kumbh, you know,
07:44for the stampede, the administration is blamed. But here, when a tragedy happens, the administration
07:50is kind of said, no, no, not their fault. It's the actor's fault. That, I think, is a little
07:54incorrect because standard operating procedures everywhere remain the same.
07:58Can you compare the Kumbh to what happened here? This is a political or, no, no, one
08:01minute. No, it's crowd control. It's crowd control.
08:05Please. And the question over the Kumbh was over after the event, the attempt which was
08:14made, which was exposed by our own sister concern, Lallantop, of trying to hide debts.
08:18That's unacceptable. That's criminal. That's a separate story.
08:21That's a separate story. That's a separate story. That's changing the goalpost.
08:24Baurav, there is a political party. Permit me to complete my point.
08:28No, no, one minute. No, no. You try to compare apples with oranges. No. The fact here is,
08:33there is a political organization which has requested permission to hold a rally. You're
08:38given the permission under certain conditions. You cannot violate those conditions. The moment
08:42you do it... What condition was violated?
08:44You were told to have the rally between 3 and 10. And it happened at 7pm.
08:47No, no, no. You are making the... You are asking people to come from the morning. It's
08:52the same thing happened in Karnataka. The Royal Challengers Bangaluru puts out a tweet asking
08:57everyone to come at 7am in the morning. This cannot go on. Please have some sympathy for
09:02the police. Sympathy for the police?
09:05They give you terms and conditions. You have to follow them.
09:07Yes. So, they need to be followed. And that is why it is for an inquiry committee and not
09:11journalists to decide whether those terms and conditions were followed or not.
09:15Point one, point two. Permit me to complete my point. Permit me to complete my point.
09:19The point is, if there's a place, who decided this place where the rally is to be held,
09:25if it is too narrow, as some people have said, including Vijay's party, for more than 10,000
09:31people to come, why was sanction given for that place? Is it the actor's fault or the politician's
09:35fault or is it the administration's fault? Barricades to be set up so that there's a separate
09:40lane. There are standard operating procedures, a separate lane for vehicles to come, a separate
09:45lanes for people to come. You know, then, of course, there was one disaster after the
09:49other. The lights that went off because the generator led to an issue, which led to a stampede.
09:54People in that same lane, vehicles coming in that same lane, ambulances that led to more
09:58cures. All of that is a matter of investigation. But the administration cannot be given a clean
10:03chip.
10:04With the plane being laid at Vijay's door, would be a little unfortunate.
10:09I'm of the opinion that actor Vijay has much to explain in this showmanship that is at
10:15display here. Because, you know, like any other politician, he also wants crowds. But
10:20crowds is coming at a cost. In this particular case, you know, 41 lives lost. But crowds do
10:26not translate into votes. All of us know about it. Let's do this comparison of this stampede
10:31versus another stampede, which happened at Hyderabad's Sandhya Theater. Actor Anu Arjun lands there
10:38unannounced. And then after the stampede, his name is features in the FIR. And then he's
10:43arrested as well. Who is trying to protect actor Vijay?
10:46So you think he should be booked? You think Vijay should be arrested?
10:48Absolutely. It doesn't stop at the level of only the organizers. It goes directly to the
10:53top.
10:54Rajdeep, Vijay should be arrested.
10:55I'm not sure about that. I mean, I...
10:57No, if you're blaming him, he needs to be held accountable.
11:00No, no. So then why stop short of saying he should be booked?
11:02Look, I believe the local organizers are primarily responsible.
11:06Yes.
11:07The local organizers of the TVK are the ones who have been given clear instructions by
11:13the police in Karoo to follow certain instructions. They clearly violated those conditions.
11:18Clearly violated it. Prima facie. Yes, there will be an investigation and inquiry committee.
11:22But prima facie, they violated it. Once they violated it, the buck stops with them. You
11:27could argue that there is a vicarious responsibility or accountability that Vijay has since he's
11:32the star celebrity.
11:33But what about the administration?
11:34Did Vijay know? Did Vijay have knowledge about what was happening on the ground? I don't
11:38know. If he had knowledge, he must be booked.
11:40Okay.
11:40But we don't know whether that's the case at the moment.
11:42All the actors and these celebrities, they want crowds and it comes in their name.
11:47No, but it comes in their name.
11:48Politicians also come royally late and we've all covered it. We've all seen it.
11:51But not seven hours late. I've not seen that happen in any other state.
11:55Except for a particular state where actors think that when they turn politicians, they are
12:00above board.
12:00Okay.
12:00I'll give you an example. Last year, I was in Tamil Nadu covering. Kamal Aslan was not
12:06even contesting the election. He was campaigning in central Chennai for Dayanidhi Maran. We
12:11were pushed to the point where I fell. I'm a relatively old man now, Akshita. And I was
12:17struggling. I had to be pulled out. I had to be literally pulled out because the crowd
12:21just descended on his man. He hadn't even come out.
12:24I can tell you that is normal in Tamil Nadu.
12:25No, no, but you see, it cannot get normalized. And that's a very important point. This has
12:30to stop. And therefore, certain responsibility will also have to be taken by the public will
12:35have to start recognizing that this ban frenzy has its limits.
12:40Okay, so let me, let me get Nagar Chun in.
12:42You know, look, the Prime Minister's rallies.
12:44How does the administration stop ban frenzy?
12:46One second. Just hold on. Let me bring in Nagar Chun, please.
12:48The Prime Minister's rallies, there are separate lanes. There is barricading that is done.
12:52No, I'm confused.
12:53People do keep the Prime Minister's rallying up as a celebrity leader.
12:56But he's not just a celebrity, he's a political leader.
12:58Nagar Chun wants to come in.
13:00So the administration, sure.
13:00Let Nagar Chun just come in because there was a comparison drawn between what happened
13:04in Bengaluru and this incident in Karoor. In Bengaluru, after the stampede happened,
13:08Nagar Chun, you saw immediately a crackdown where senior police officials were also suspended,
13:12including the commissioner. Tell us the difference between that and this. In Karoor,
13:16why is it that police officials are not suspended? There's no crackdown versus what happened
13:20in Bengaluru.
13:20Because it's election season, as simple as that. When Rajdeep was talking about why
13:28Vijay should be arrested or not be arrested, no political party in Tamil Nadu as of today
13:34has not attacked Vijay, be it BJP, Congress, AI, DMK and DMK.
13:38F.I.R. is on number two, number three of the party. Why is Vijay not being even questioned?
13:42Because tomorrow, Vijay can be the kingmaker and you don't know who will he align with. And hence, every
13:48party is being very cautious touching Vijay there. And that's the reason he's not even mentioned in the F.I.R.
13:52One, and he might also get sympathy if he's mentioned in the F.I.R. That's the reason why both DMK and AI, DMK are taking it very cautiously and not attacking the number one party leader there.
14:03And secondly, definitely Vijay has bled on his hands, right? Not just of coming late or delayed to the rally, but his actions later.
14:12There are videos now surfacing on Twitter and on other social media platforms, right in front of his truck. People are fainting. He could see it literally.
14:20One of his party members comes and whispers in his ears that this is happening. Even then, he doesn't even put a word of caution. He continues to talk and the water.
14:31That is the exact moment. He should have called the ambulances right inside. He should have told people to move. And one more thing, he went back to Tirchi and Flamder flew.
14:39All set and done. He says that the police were not giving out permission. They were not letting me go back to Karoo. What was his party karyakartas doing then?
14:48He should have at least addressed the party karyakartas saying, go there, be in the morstery, meet the family members. Four days. It's too late and too little at the end of the day.
14:56And hence, Vijay is completely responsible. And last point, you can't blame the police completely because they are doing their job.
15:02Just a few days before, even DMK had a big, big rally in Karoo. They are also human beings. They are not superheroes.
15:08They can't work 24 hours. We need an SOP. Every state in India, every district in India, we need one dedicated place where rallies, protests, everything can happen and nothing on the streets of India.
15:19You asked for a comparison between Bengaluru and Karoo.
15:23What's the difference?
15:23No, no, no. In Bengaluru also, the difference, the state police warned that please do not have this. They did not give permission for this kind of road show to take place.
15:34They did not give permission for a parallel event to take place in the Vidant Sauta.
15:39Despite that, the politicians wanted to be identified. One minute. In Bengaluru, the politicians openly wanted to be identified with the royal challengers, Bengaluru.
15:47The police had made it very clear. We do not want the road show to take place in the manner that it does. We do not want two parallel events to take place.
15:57Despite that, they went ahead. I believe actually the inquiry committee in Bengaluru has actually whitewashed the reality of what happened in that stampede.
16:06No, you are saying they were scapegoated in Bengaluru.
16:07You see, in all of this, my worry is even here. My worries even here will be, the last thing I want to see is the police being scapegoated, which happened in Bengaluru.
16:16In Bengaluru, it happened. The police commissioner became…
16:19No, but my question to you, my question is…
16:21The basic thing is, the administration's bread and butter is crowd management and if they cannot even do crowd management…
16:28No, no, no.
16:29The administration cannot even do crowd management, then there is a problem.
16:33You can say that TVK was given permission for 10,000 people.
16:35On the organizer, you can't just blame the government.
16:37They went ahead and increased their number. Sure, so they are 100% to blame. I have no doubt about that. But where was your intel?
16:42That, you know, these are the crowds, what is happening?
16:44No, no, one minute. You know, it's very easy to…
16:46Are you going to rely on the words of one man and say this is…
16:48He didn't agree.
16:49No, no. It's very easy to say intel to police administration in this particular instance.
16:55You are giving specific instructions. I repeat, there are terms and conditions. There is an SOP.
17:00So, who ensures enforcement?
17:01No, no. Enforcement.
17:03No, no. The organizers have to ensure.
17:05They have to… They have been given permission to the rally on condition that they fulfill certain guarantees.
17:11But IES and IPS officers cannot sit in air-conditioned offices and, you know, just say…
17:16No, no. We are sitting here, we are sitting in an air-conditioned office and blaming the police.
17:20I think that's very unfair.
17:21No, I am saying, I am saying, you are seeing right now…
17:24No, we are forgetting something very important here.
17:26So, they will take… They will also have to take…
17:27Pramut has a point to make.
17:28Pramut, you have a point to make. Go ahead.
17:33No, we are… Rajseep, Rajseep, we are forgetting. Rajseep and Gaurav, we are forgetting something very important here.
17:39It did not happen just like that in one day. Since Trichy, there was an issue.
17:44Every time permission was denied, saying something was wrong, this place is not adequate, you do not have…
17:50Since the first rally, some issue was happening. Immediately, a counter-argument came over saying,
17:55it is DMK that is stopping. They have imposed so many conditions. Why this much conditions?
18:01In fact, Vijay went on at one rally in Namakal and he said, like, you know, he actually said,
18:05like, there are so many conditions that is being imposed. And he said, CM, sir, are you threatening me?
18:10Are you stopping me from meeting the people? No, but then the suggestion is, the suggestion is Pramut,
18:13there is a reason that we… Because of political optics.
18:15He should have approached the court. Why didn't he approach the court?
18:17Because of political optics. Why didn't he approach the court?
18:18Because of political optics, the DMK didn't stop this rally. Is that the suggestion then?
18:22Vijay, he did approach the court. He did approach the court. And what happened is that…
18:25No, no, no, no. He did approach the court. And what happened is that the court actually wanted an SOP.
18:31Because after Trichy rally, what happened is that, like, public property was vandalized.
18:36Namakal, a church, halls, actual compound wall was vandalized. I mean, it was destroyed.
18:42The important aspect here is that, like, for 10,000 people, we have 500 police. And this
18:47is a crowd that will not listen to everybody. When I was on the ground, we had to shout at
18:53people saying, get down from walls and, like, close to transformers. And all we got back as
18:58reply is that they are laughing and they are saying, like, nothing will happen. Imagine
19:01if that is the situation. That's why we are saying we have to be much more harsher with
19:05crowd control. But the thing here is that we are not getting, like, you know, letting
19:09loose the administration. The important aspect is that administration was given a promise
19:14about crowd control. You see, Anand, there are so many videos where he sits before an SP
19:19of a district and he will simply say that we want this permission, this much number is coming
19:23and we would take care of it. And then this happens. It happened in Trichy. It happened
19:27in Arilur. Now, that is where the administration is at fault, because time and again, it had
19:31happened. And what administration did was they filed cases, FARs, and then they gave the
19:37permission, because otherwise, once again, TBK would go with the narrative saying...
19:41So then, Mariah, is it just because of political optics? Is it all about political optics at
19:45the end of the day? It's about getting the numbers. You are actually showcasing that there
19:50are, you know, I'm popular. I've just entered politics, actor turned politician, superstar.
19:56You will get crowd. And as Jyoti Mani, who is the Karoor MP, she was telling me the other day,
20:02that day is payday in Karoor. You have thousands of people on street. The actor knew about it. The
20:08organizers knew about it. Could they have chosen another day?
20:11No, it's like KCA. You know, the Karnataka State Cricket Association and RCB.
20:16You wanted to take full advantage of the fact that RCB had just won the match the night
20:20before. You could have waited for a couple of days, organized it properly. No, but you
20:23wanted to ensure that brand Kohli, brand RCB was showcased to the world. You put out
20:29tweets in the morning, come one, come all. What do you expect the police then to do? The
20:33police can only do so much, right? Should the event have been called off? Should the event have been called off?
20:39Should they have called off the event saying you're not following the norms? Absolutely.
20:42So why didn't they? Political optics. See, it's not optics. You are in an election season.
20:48If you called out the event, right, as Pramodh is saying, you will be immediately, Vijay will say
20:52there is a conspiracy to reach out the people. We are a democracy, in democracy is being,
20:58is being... Akshita, even if there were 5,000 people... That's the problem. The actor star,
21:04as Maria rightly says, wants the maximum star. His organizers, his chamchas are even worse.
21:09They will say we want even more people to land up there.
21:12Nagarjun, go ahead. You had a point to make.
21:15I absolutely agree with Rajdeep. Just forget 500 policemen. Even if there were 5,000 policemen,
21:23it could not have been controlled. Maybe we have to question the crowd mentality also. They end up
21:28turning into a mob like Pramodh was mentioning. In the first rally, they were vandalizing public places
21:34and the court had to intervene. And now we have seen... That's exactly what Annamalai was also
21:38saying, right? Vijay is of everyone. Everyone likes Vijay. But for you, the person who comes to
21:43watch Vijay or see Vijay, you are the only person for your family. Your mother, father are completely
21:48dependent on you. So don't come to watch, not just Vijay. Even if there's no safety in BJP rallies,
21:55don't come ahead and watch us, is what Annamalai said. Maybe there's a larger question that all of us have
21:59to address Sandhya Theta, Allu Arjun, Tirupati ticket distribution, Karnataka RCB and here during
22:06the Vijay rally. It's happening every other month, every fortnight. So there is a larger question
22:11that we all have to address. You know, this is a pan-India problem. Gaurav, what do you think?
22:12Is it a problem of lack of SOP? Is it that India just cannot have these big events? We're not prepared?
22:18No, it's the... I mean, I'm very disappointed that we are blaming the victims or we are blaming the crowds.
22:24We should be telling the administration to wake up, pull up their socks, do their job better. It's the job.
22:30So to you, what were the lapses that you have to blame the administration?
22:33Nobody's blaming the crowds of the victims. So fine, you get clearance for 10,000.
22:37If 20,000 are appearing, then the local, whether it's the inspector rank or the DCP rank,
22:43he's supposed to know and take countermeasures, you know, whether it's to stop them at a certain level,
22:49hold them in a certain level. Look, there are standard operating procedures to have a holding
22:54area, to clear a certain area. There's no holding area in public rally.
22:57Public rally, for God's sake, Gaurav, this is not...
23:01Don't compare public rally to something which is...
23:03Again, because this chalta hai attitude has crept in so much...
23:07How can you blame a chalta hai attitude?
23:08It is that chalta hai attitude because, look, I speak to the administration on what is the SOP,
23:15what is meant to be done, and when you notice what is meant to be done and is not done,
23:20you will have a disaster. If you follow standard, it's not...
23:24It's very easy to say, oh, you're not supposed to have a holding area.
23:27Look, everywhere, more than X number of crowd, you're supposed to have a holding area.
23:31The fact that you don't have it is that chalta hai attitude.
23:34So if 41 lives here, however many lives lost elsewhere, if they really matter,
23:39then you will start pushing for those standard operating procedures to be followed.
23:44Or you will continue, one day you blame Vijay, one day you blame Aluwarjun,
23:48one day you blame Samatta, but never the administration everywhere, which is meant to be the backbone.
23:54I think what Stalin has done, where he has called an all-party meeting,
23:58so that there's consensus overall on crowds management,
24:00primary responsibility of all that lies with the organizers, it lies with the political party.
24:06I think actor Vijay should actually display that kind of moral responsibility here.
24:12The magnanimity to say that, you know, I apologize.
24:15And he cannot scapegoat his own people.
24:17Were you disappointed by his statement, Rajdeep? Did you feel he should have taken more responsibility?
24:22Absolutely. I mean, you know, at the end of the day, there is a moral responsibility that Vijay has.
24:27Even if there is no legal responsibility, there is a moral responsibility.
24:31You know, today's Vijay Dashmi, it's a day, you know, when you want to celebrate in every sense.
24:38Thoughts and prayers are with the families, but I think somewhere Nagarjun also makes an important point.
24:43This fandom also cannot go without you having certain responsibilities that come with it.
24:49You go there as this crazed fan for that one second that you want to see the actor wave.
24:54You are going into a situation wherein you will also have to be extra careful.
25:01You can't sit on a tree branch, which could fall at any time.
25:04No, the standard of transformers.
25:06And then if something goes wrong, say, no, no, police is to blame, administration is to blame.
25:11You bloody well not be on a treetop or on a transformer.
25:15Unacceptable behavior. Same thing happened in Bengaluru.
25:18You, you know, for one second of trying to see Virat Kohli's wave, you are rushing him with your little children, some two years old.
25:24Why are you taking them there? This is not right.
25:26Why are little children there? It's not right. Let's not encourage this man in fan behavior.
25:30Rajdeep, in Bangalore, people had, people had climbed onto the high court terrace.
25:34It's a restrict, in Bangalore, not just treetops, people had climbed the high court terrace.
25:40It's a bloody restricted space and police had to catch them with collars and bring them down.
25:44That's the craze. And on Vidana Soda terrace, no one's supposed to enter these restricted places, but people climbed the walls.
25:50You've seen these rallies up close. You've seen the craze for Vijay Pramod. The question is, going forward now, what's going to happen?
25:59Do you think, looking at what's happening, Vijay is going to be arrested, Vijay is going to be booked?
26:03It seems here, also, many believe that Vijay must be held accountable.
26:09Well, he definitely should be held accountable, Lakshita. But one thing I want to say is that when you asked Rajdeep or Maria what about that particular message,
26:17that four minutes video for the first two minutes, he was a human trying to apologize, but the next two minutes, he became a neta,
26:25trying to feed a conspiracy theory, claiming that the chief minister is taking revenge, that he should have definitely avoided.
26:31In fact, we were discussing that that message he should have done long time back, he should have put it, but he did not do that.
26:37And one important aspect is that this is not happening suddenly. Since the moment Vijay came to politics, his first conference in Vikramandi, seconded Madurai,
26:47this has been constantly happening, which means he also has a moral responsibility to instruct his team to actually place an SOP.
26:55Of course, the administration has to have its own SOP. We will have it. We will soon have it.
27:00Or else, the government has promised that it will soon have an SOP. So, both are responsible, especially Vijay.
27:07It's not either or. It's both. Administration needs to do better and the organizers need to do better. It's not either or.
27:14I think we'll all agree on that note that there is accountability on both parts here, from the administration and the organizers.
27:20And while we focus on this particular issue in Karoor, there are lessons perhaps to be learnt for every event across the country,
27:28because we see this happening far too often with these kind of stampedes at political rallies, at concerts, at any kind of event.
27:35We hope, we hope that very soon there will be answers as to who's responsible for the stampede in Karoor,
27:40and therefore some sense of closure for those 41 families who've lost their loved ones.
27:45Thank you very much for tuning in to this edition of Democratic Newsroom.
27:48Democratic Newsroom.
28:00.
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