In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, BJP leader K Annamalai said that the State government and organisers have to take responsibility for the Karur stampede that left 41 people dead during TVK chief Vijay's rally.
00:00And joining me now is one of our newsmakers tonight, K. Anna Malai, former president of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, one of its most vocal and visible voices, a former IPS officer also.
00:12Anna Malai, today the Madras High Court has come down heavily on Vijay. They've also questioned the state administration, but they've also rejected the BJP's demand for a CBI probe, saying enough of this political blame game.
00:26They want accountability, but they don't want the politics. Your response, has this entire tragedy now, the stampede that killed 41 innocent lives, become a political playground ahead of the Tamil Nadu elections next year?
00:42Now, frankly speaking, what happened in Karur is unacceptable because our state hasn't seen this kind of an episode post-independence, a political rally and people of this nature getting killed.
00:55And at one side, TVK has gone to the court. On the other side, a lot of common people have also gone to the court.
01:01And this is one particular judge from the Madras High Court has given his opinion on the petition that is filed.
01:08And everybody, we respect the court's opinion, sir. At the same time, I, from day one, I'm speaking right in Karur and everywhere I'm speaking the same things.
01:16One, the DMK government tried to put the whole blame on TVK. That is unacceptable for us.
01:21It is the state government that has to take responsibility. The local administration has to take responsibility.
01:26Of course, the organizers have to take responsibility, you know, escaping from that fact.
01:30But we are very clear, the one-man commission of inquiry appointed by the state government cannot do its job.
01:34We are seeing it for the last three, four days. The particular former judge in the ground talking to people.
01:41And it is appointed specifically by name, by the Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
01:45That is why we particularly lost interest in the one-man commission.
01:49We hope and pray that better sense will prevail.
01:51We are more interested in the SIT appointed by the Madras High Court.
01:57A very eminent officer, IG-ranked officer, who has got a good name.
02:00A very neutral officer as well.
02:02So, let us wait for the SIT report and how deep they get into this issue.
02:07And anybody who is part of this, right from the administrative level to the political level,
02:11everybody should be charged. We are very clear about it, sir.
02:13You are saying you are very clear that no one should escape punishment.
02:21But the truth of the matter, Anna Malai, is when the court says that a political blame game is on,
02:26we heard MK Stalin, for example, Tamil Nadu's chief minister saying,
02:30the BJP sends a fact-finding mission to Karur, but you will not send fact-finding teams
02:36when stampedes happen in Kumbh, when there is a tragedy in Morbi,
02:41when there is a tragedy at the Delhi railway station.
02:43The entire episode, unfortunate as it is, seems to be about scoring political points.
02:50You want to target the Stalin government. Stalin wants to target Vijay.
02:54And the BJP, in some ways, caught in the middle.
02:58Sir, the Tamil Nadu chief minister, Mr. MK Stalin, he has to understand,
03:03just like that, he got every right as the chief minister to come to Karur at 1am
03:07to take stock of the situation as the chief minister to perform his duty.
03:11Likewise, the National Party president of BJP has also got every right
03:15to appoint a delegation of NDA MPs to study that episode.
03:18In fact, the chapperson of the delegation,
03:21Mr. Hema Malani, Anurag Thakurji, Tejas Fisuri, all of them are very clear.
03:25They never pointed anything politically.
03:26They said the goal is to study this, take their report right up to the national president.
03:32If there is any lacuna anywhere, to bring it up to the attention.
03:35The chief minister cannot blame, oh, the fact-finding committee did not go here,
03:39did not come here.
03:40If something has happened in any part of the country,
03:42did we stop the DMK from not putting a fact-finding committee?
03:45Every party has got the right.
03:47Instead of chief minister traveling all around India and saying,
03:49why not in Assam? Why not here? Why not here?
03:51Yes, the fact-finding committee has come here.
03:53In fact, the collector and SP, the local administration has given time at 2.45pm to meet them.
03:58At 2.30pm, the collector called and canceled.
04:00He said, sorry, I can't meet. That is a state of affairs.
04:03If the collector and SP have got nothing to hide,
04:05what is the problem in meeting the fact-finding committee?
04:08So, I am very disappointed with our chief minister's remark.
04:10Instead of just putting the blame game,
04:12he should have fronted up and said, yes, fine, let the fact-finding committee come.
04:15It has got nothing to hide.
04:16Let them come and just give a report.
04:18He can always find fault with the report.
04:21The report is one-sided. The report is biased. Fine.
04:23But what is the problem with the fact-finding committee coming here?
04:26Sir, it is not a first time the committee has come.
04:28Even for the Kallakurji huge tragedy, the committee has come.
04:31And multiple times in the last four years,
04:33the national president, J.P. Nagarji, has sent a fact-finding committee.
04:39You see, but the fact is, at the end of the day,
04:42Anna Mala, you've been both a police officer and politician.
04:45So, you know what it takes for crowd management, crowd control.
04:49Surely, the primary responsibility is with the organizers.
04:52The police give them a time to hold the rally.
04:543 p.m. onwards, up to 10 p.m.
04:58The organizers start calling people to reach the venue at 12 noon.
05:02By 7 p.m., when the actor finally is reaching the place,
05:06people are tired, exhausted.
05:08Some are on treetops. Some are on tin sheds.
05:10Are you going to, as a former police officer, blame the local police?
05:13Or are you going to hold actor Vijay culpable?
05:16Are you also worried that if you target Vijay,
05:19he will get the sympathy and he will become larger than life?
05:22All of you seem afraid of Vijay.
05:24He's not even named in the FIR.
05:26That has been fine.
05:28Sir, we are not in the government.
05:30It is for the DMK government to put an FIR,
05:33to name whomever they want.
05:34And finally, the investigation to carry on.
05:36So that part, I can't answer, sir,
05:37because we didn't decide whether Vijay should be number one,
05:40number two, or number three.
05:41All we are saying from day one,
05:43don't point it completely to one direction.
05:45Yes, of course, the organizers are responsible.
05:47But the primary responsibility,
05:48if you look at the permission letter that was given by the TVK,
05:51it says from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
05:54I've never seen a political party giving seven hours time frame
05:57to conducting a program.
05:58Fine, they've given.
05:59The state government could have restricted to two hours.
06:02Why did the state government give permission
06:03from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.?
06:05As mentioned in the letter, sir,
06:07when they mentioned 10,000 people can come,
06:09sir, no political party can predict
06:11whether 10,000 will come, 20,000 will come.
06:13At no end, we are saying that TVK is not culpable.
06:16Yes, of course, they are culpable
06:17because they are organizers.
06:18But the DMK government from day one
06:20is setting a narrative.
06:21It is only the TVK is responsible.
06:23That is where we had a problem.
06:24We said, you own up responsibility.
06:26Kallakurchi, 64 people died.
06:28Chennai Air Show, 5 people died.
06:29Chennai Air Show, when the Indian Air Force Air Show happened,
06:32no FIR is filed, sir.
06:34There they should have filed an FIR.
06:35There the lacuna happened.
06:37Crowd mismanagement happened.
06:38So we cannot have two different issues to two issues.
06:40But today, the High Court has made it very clear
06:46that you cannot organize these rallies now
06:48around highways, for example,
06:50without standard operating procedures.
06:53And we are told the DMK government
06:54has planned an all-party meeting
06:56to look at this issue.
06:58Do you believe that political rallies
07:01are now a recipe for danger
07:03because there are no standard operating procedures?
07:06And then, when there are celebrities
07:08like Vijay who are involved,
07:10who become film stars,
07:11the crowd goes out of control.
07:13Do you believe that all such rallies
07:15should be halted
07:16till SOPs agreed upon by all parties
07:19are put in place?
07:22We agree on that point, sir.
07:23We agree on that point.
07:24That is very important.
07:25Time has come.
07:26In the last three, four years,
07:27if I look at Tamil Nadu politics,
07:29the rallies that is supposed to happen
07:31with big crowds outside the city
07:33have changed into rallies going inside the city.
07:35That is the nature of politics have changed now.
07:38Everybody wants to go into a city.
07:39Everybody wants to do a rally.
07:41Everybody wants to choke up a road.
07:42Everybody wants to show a crowd.
07:44That do they want?
07:45Peak time.
07:45Fine.
07:46This is a trend that I'm seeing
07:47for the last three, four years.
07:48All parties are responsible
07:50because, and many people want a weekend.
07:52At least now, I agree to this point, sir.
07:54SOP has to come
07:55because the SOP will help in multiple things.
07:58There should be certain go areas,
08:00no-go areas in a district.
08:01And we should all clearly agree
08:03to each district, to each place.
08:04This is an area where a rally can happen.
08:07This particular time rally can happen.
08:08This is a place where rally cannot happen
08:10so that every political party will know,
08:12oh, I am asking permission.
08:13They are giving it to ruling government.
08:15They are not giving it to me.
08:16So let us all have a clear understanding,
08:18agreed by the government,
08:19agreed by all the political parties,
08:21that certain places is a no-go area for everybody,
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