When Durga Puja turns tragic: Who is accountable for the Chorbagan Stampede?

Durga Puja has long been a source of pride for Bengali culture. What began as a predominantly household festival gradually evolved into a public celebration and a remarkable expression of artistic creativity, eventually earning recognition from UNESCO. Across Kolkata and the towns and villages of West Bengal, people from all religious communities participate in the festivities. The crowds can become so overwhelming that walking along the streets becomes difficult and entering a pandal can be a challenge. Yet, until now, Durga Puja had not witnessed any disaster. This year, however, blood has stained this globally celebrated Bengali cultural festival. Nineteen people have already died in a stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal, while 25 others have been injured. How could such a massive tragedy have occurred? There can be little doubt that neither the government nor the BJP, as the party in power, can escape responsibility for this disaster.

Allegations have emerged that, after coming to power, the BJP forced several organisers of Kolkata’s popular Durga Puja celebrations to step down. It has also been alleged that the former secretary of the Chorbagan Puja Committee was removed and an entirely new committee was constituted. The new committee is headed by Bijoy Ojha, the BJP MLA from Jorasanko. According to reports published in newspapers, many have alleged that Debdeep Adhikari, the nephew of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, is the chief adviser to the committee. Tanmoy Ghosh, the BJP president of North Kolkata, is also reportedly one of its key office-bearers.

The new committee has proved completely incapable of managing the festival. For several days before the tragedy, visitors had been complaining on social media about inadequate security arrangements at the pandal. The Chief Minister himself appeared to echo some of these concerns after the accident. The entrance and exit routes of the pandal were too narrow. The pandal had, in fact, been inaugurated by the Chief Minister himself. One cannot help wondering whether he had noticed the narrow entry and exit routes and warned the organisers about the potential danger. What role did the police play in this regard? When permission was granted for the pandal, were the safety arrangements properly examined?

To the government’s credit, it has taken one welcome step in the aftermath of the tragedy: it has assumed responsibility for supporting the families of the dead and the injured. The Chief Minister has promised that the government will bear all medical expenses and provide a government job to a member of each deceased person’s family. These are certainly commendable measures. However, questions are already being raised about several other steps taken by the government. A fact-finding committee has been constituted, and the Chief Minister has promised an investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a sitting judge. Yet he has made it clear that the Kolkata Police Commissioner will not be held responsible for the incident because he was not physically present at the spot.

This is precisely where the questions begin. Kolkata Police have long been accustomed to managing the enormous crowds that gather during Durga Puja. Many visitors have complained over the past few days that the police did not appear as alert or active as they had been in previous years. Some eyewitnesses at the scene have also alleged on social media that the police were slow to rescue the dead and the injured. If these allegations are true, the Police Commissioner must be held accountable. The Chief Minister, in his capacity as the minister responsible for the police, must also accept responsibility. After taking office, the new government transferred several police officers. This raises the question of whether the responsibility for crowd management during the festival was entrusted to inexperienced officers as a result. Can the Kolkata Police Commissioner evade responsibility for determining which police personnel should be deployed at different locations across the city during Durga Puja?

It has also been reported that the police under the new government were particularly enthusiastic about using bulldozers to demolish bookstalls set up by Left-wing parties during the Puja. This, too, raises an uncomfortable question: during a festival, should the police be deploying bulldozers to demolish bookstalls, or should their priority be ensuring public safety?

The list of people arrested so far is also disturbing. Seven people have been arrested, including the secretary and vice-president of the Puja committee. The president, however, has not been arrested. Is it because he is a BJP MLA? Two employees of the private security agency have also been arrested, but no police officer responsible for security arrangements has been taken into custody so far. This raises a serious concern: are a handful of organisers and private security personnel being arrested to shield those who bear greater responsibility? Are they to be made scapegoats while heavyweight organisers and senior police officers remain untouched?

In the wake of the tragedy, restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) have already been imposed on several roads in Kolkata. Entry has been prohibited at a number of other Puja pandals as well. Bengalis have scarcely witnessed a Durga Puja like this before. The reality is that, in just five months, the new BJP government has demonstrated the difficulties an inexperienced administration can face in governing West Bengal. Several decisions taken by the government have had to be reversed within a short period. During the Puja, instead of repairing damaged roads, some streets and flyovers were painted in the name of beautification. In several instances, the government has also had to reconsider or abandon decisions following court interventions.

The BJP has urged people not to politicise the Chorbagan tragedy. It is certainly true that, at this moment, the families of the dead and injured need support and assistance. But when BJP leaders take control of major Puja committees, displacing existing organisers despite having little or no experience in managing such celebrations, political questions are bound to arise when a disaster occurs. After a bridge collapsed in Kolkata and people died, Prime Minister Narendra Modi once claimed that God had brought down the bridge to send a message to the people of West Bengal that Mamata Banerjee should be removed from power. Was that not a political message drawn from a human tragedy?