The dust has settled over the IPL frenzy and the Royal Challengers’ win, following the tragic stampede at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, and the government is working to establish accountability. Now, it is time to calmly review the systemic flaws that have come to light and introspect on how citizens may also have contributed to the tragedy.
What appears to be the chief cause is the ‘culture of lawlessness’ that pervades our entire society — from elected representatives and bureaucrats to private enterprises, fans, and ordinary citizens.
Did the government compromise public safety?
What was the urgency, or even the necessity, for the government to hold a felicitation ceremony on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha for the winners of a cricket tournament run by a private franchise, entirely unrelated to the city or state administration? The answer seems to lie in the conduct of many elected representatives, who often disregard regulations and operate as though they are beyond the law. They make impulsive decisions, implement ad hoc plans, and proceed without adhering to due process.
A former vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has highlighted that, given the recurring stampedes at large gatherings, including religious sites, the NDMA issued National Guidelines on Managing Crowds at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering in 2014. Despite the existence of standard operating procedures (SOPs) through agencies such as the NDMA and the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), significant gaps in disaster management persist nationwide, and Karnataka is no exception.
“Rather than addressing prevention, preparedness, and mitigation before a disaster, and rehabilitation and reconstruction afterwards, the only action many governments seem to take is on finding scapegoats and doling out compensation to the victims after a disaster occurs.”
In Karnataka, as in many other states, the revenue minister serves as the vice chairman of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), with other ministers as members. One needs to ask if the SDMA was invoked at all before plans were okayed for having the event at Vidhana Soudha and the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Adherence to guidelines, pre-disaster planning with sufficient time for making preparations, appears to be neglected, which needs to be addressed before all future events at all levels in the state administration.
For a public event of a huge magnitude, No Objection Certificates (NOC) must be obtained from the police, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and from about 10–12 other agencies. Only after all these authorities evaluate and give their NOCs, does the police grant permission for the event, with a list of conditions to be complied with.
The question is whether the government put political pressure on the police to allow the celebrations without this due process of law, despite them initially refusing permission, given the short notice that left the police with little time for necessary preparations.
Read more: Why crowd management is needed at Yeshwanthpur Metro Station
It is not as though any other government in place would not have behaved similarly, taking advantage of the photo op with celebrity cricketers to mobilise their vote bank. The lesson for all governments is to curb the arrogance of their ‘maharaja’ behaviour and follow due process.
Have the police failed in their duty?
Coming to the role of the police, if they were subjected to political pressure to grant consent orally, without following due process, they should have stood their ground. As part of the ‘steel frame’ that upholds governance according to the laws, the police must ensure that regulations are followed.
They should have displayed spine, said “no means no”, and demanded a letter in writing from those putting pressure on them, with the condition that those persons would be held accountable if anything went wrong. Why did the police not put a stop to the event and disperse the crowd at the stadium since due process of law had not been followed? In future, the independence of the police to maintain law and order and not be coerced by the government in power should be ensured.
Was the franchise responsible for misleading fans?
As for the private franchise, which had sought permission from the police, the accusation is that the police failed to give a letter in writing “rejecting” the request. However, the absence of a letter does not justify going ahead with an event.
Even small non-governmental organisations are aware that the police have 15 days to give their consent in writing, even for events where only 100 persons are likely to assemble. The requirement is that a letter giving ‘consent’ in writing is mandatory for holding an event. If written consent is not given, the event cannot be held.
So, how did the franchisee go ahead with the event and give messages to the fans that the event is on, if they had received no consent in writing from the police?
Is the frenzy and worship by fans misplaced?
Do the fans even realise that getting into a frenzy of fan worship for mercenary cricket, where players are bought and sold in auctions to the highest bidder, has nothing to link it to pride in or patriotism for their city, state or nation?
Our citizens are becoming victims of the frenzy whipped up in social media through the money power of these cricketing bodies and are equating this misplaced obsession with pride in their city. Other than the fact that it has Bengaluru in its name, there is hardly anything of Bengaluru in the RCB. It is a private franchise with just two players of Karnataka origin and many others, who are foreigners.
Have citizens forgotten civic discipline?
If Bengaluru aspires to be a global cosmopolitan hub and is touted as a Silicon City and Start Up City, how is it that some citizens still engage in unruly behaviour? If they had real pride in their city would ‘global citizens’ of a metropolis climb walls, tear down barbed wire fences, jump down into the stadium, push open gates, manhandle gatekeepers, jump over Metro barricades, stamp on fallen bodies and on fallen children?
How come the citizens have not yet learnt civilised and lawful behaviour expected in a global city? Would they have behaved similarly if they had been in Singapore, which Bengaluru always aspires to be? If the stadium had become full or if they did not have the free passes or tickets, why did they still want to get in instead of simply going home?
It seems to be always, “I, me, myself” first for our citizens — the laws be damned! This is similar to what happened at the Kumbh Mela when people stamped on fallen people to dip themselves in the supposedly sacred waters to wash off their sins! Would such behaviour ever wash off their sins, or instead add to their sins?
The lack of civic discipline in a city aspiring to global standards is displayed in many ways in daily interactions. Public transport is chaotic, with passengers pushing instead of maintaining distance. At canteens, stores, and offices, people crowd counters rather than forming orderly queues. This disorder makes crowd management nearly impossible without barricades and making single file entry mandatory.
If citizens had real pride in their city, would they irresponsibly discard their waste in drains and on roads spreading disease, polluting the soil and water, and tarnishing the city’s image? Would they honk continuously, creating unbearable noise pollution, or violate building bye-laws by encroaching on lakes, buffer zones, and stormwater drains, leading to devastating floods?
Citizens, in turn, often elect leaders who enable and sustain this culture of lawlessness.
What we have witnessed is the breakdown of the rule of law. This needs to be curbed if we are to retain the image of a global city. Lessons have to be learnt by the government, bureaucracy, police, private enterprises and fans/citizens to respect “rule of law” which is the bulwark in a democracy.
Have raised valid points of all stakeholders. Each one has to introspect.
well reasoned article and raises very valid points. The root cause is not following due process, which incidentally is common across various governance dimensions of Bengaluru. I would also like to bring in the Administration manned by IAS Officers into the ambit of accountability. They too have direct responsibility of overseeing checks and balances.