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A stampede during RCB’s IPL victory celebration resulted in 11 fatalities and 47 injuries.
Previous IPL celebrations, like KKR’s in 2012, had large crowds but fewer incidents.
Gautam Gambhir has criticised roadshows, emphasising public safety over celebrations
The scenes were similar, if not even more grand in some ways. A team had won the Indian Premier League after a five-year wait and a massive celebration was organised, with free entry into the stadium.
This one had a victory parade and even Bollywood superstar power in the form of Shah Rukh Khan, but there were no major incidents, barring a lathicharge towards the end.
Wednesday’s stampede – in which 11 were killed and 47 injured – after fans gathered to cheer the long-awaited crowning of Royal Challengers Bengaluru as IPL champions, has brought the first such grand celebrations by an IPL team into focus. The internet is abuzz about the Kolkata Knight Riders’ mega victory lap in Kolkata in 2012, especially since Team India Coach Gautam Gambhir – who was the KKR captain at the time – said after the Bengaluru stampede: “I was never a believer in roadshows.”
“I had the same statement to make even after winning in 2007; we should never have roadshows. I think the lives of people are far more important than this, and I will continue to say that. Maybe in the future we should try not to hold roadshows, instead we can do it in the stadium. It’s very tragic what happened yesterday, and my heart goes out to the families of those who lost their lives,” Mr Gambhir said on Thursday.
A Waiting Period?
Unlike the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, whose celebrations were held just a day after they won the final on Tuesday, the Kolkata Knight Riders organised their victory lap on May 29, 2012, two days after they defeated the Chennai Super Kings.
A five-km victory parade was organised from Hazra Crossing to the Writers’ Building and estimates suggest at least 1 lakh people had turned up. Crowds lined the streets and many more watched from rooftops and balconies as the players and team owner Shah Rukh Khan travelled on an open-top bus.
The players then went to the Eden Gardens, where there was free entry and every seat was taken. The players and Mr Khan danced on stage, and the team was felicitated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Reports suggest that a lathicharge had to be carried out at one point, leading to some minor injuries, but there were no major incidents.
The RCB bash, on the other hand, turned out to be a disaster. Despite only two points being approved for the celebrations – Vidhana Soudha, the state legislature complex, and the Chinnaswamy Stadium – and no victory parade, a stampede broke out.
The stampede occurred outside the 35,000-capacity Chinnaswamy Stadium, where over a lakh fans had gathered, reportedly after a rumour of free passes being given. The 11 dead included a 14-year-old.
Action
Multiple first information reports (FIRs) have been filed and four people, including an RCB official, have been arrested. Five police officers, including the Bengaluru police commissioner, have been suspended and the political secretary to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been removed.
While the Congress-led government has said it is doing everything possible to help the families of the victims and fix accountability, the opposition BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) have accused it of scapegoating the police officers.
