Goa woke up earlier this month to the shocking and sad news of a horrific stampede, a first-time-ever occurrence at a religious event, in which six precious lives were lost and several devotees injured. The myth that such incidents could only occur in other States but not in ‘sosegado Goem’ was shattered. For many, this incident brought back the memory of the deadly Mahakumbh tragedy some months ago in Uttar Pradesh.
It was lately in the month of March that the Sree Lairai Devi zatra at Shirgao, Bicholim, which draws thousands of devotees and tourists every year, was declared a State festival by the Government of Goa. Just a day before this unfortunate tragedy, it was widely publicised that the government has enhanced security arrangements for this year’s zatra with a record number of police personnel deployed with drones, riot control vehicles and plain clothes police officers for effective crowd management, to ensure a safe and smooth passage for the devotees.
This popular religious festival has been organised for decades and has always drawn huge crowds but never witnessed such a disaster. Besides some minor incidents which were heard of in the past, wherein some or the other devotee suffered from minor burn or other injuries in the melee, there has never been an incident of such magnitude leading to loss of lives. Some are now alleging that there have been a couple of deaths in the past which went unreported. Whether such deaths were related to lack of safety or health issues is uncertain.
Amidst all the allegations and counter allegations flying around was a mischievous accusation about the government ensuring safety and security for church events at Old Goa, and ignoring the same when it comes to temple festivals. Are we to believe that there are no more popular temples in Goa which conduct their religious events in an orderly manner with or without government assistance? The orderliness one witnesses at Old Goa’s religious events is not the result of the government intervention, it has a lot to do with the culture of devotees in their places of worship.
So, is this tragedy a failure of the organisers and government machinery? Or, could it be a consequence of the commercialisation of religious festivals coupled with a deteriorating civic culture witnessed in Goa?
As usual, it only takes the loss of lives for the government and citizens to wake up and take notice. Such tragedies are converted into occasions for either deriving political mileage or for settling political scores. It follows the usual pattern of denial, blaming, scapegoating, and projection to muddy the waters and dodge the truth, only to be forgotten no sooner another sensational issue surfaces. If the incident is politically embarrassing, then a fact-finding team is constituted and soft targets picked up for a dressing down with no conclusive outcomes.
The unfortunate incident at Shirgao should not be seen in isolation from the government’s utter disregard for public security and safety in several other areas of governance. It was just one among the many tragedies waiting to happen sometime or the other, a build up from years of safety precautions being ignored by overconfident organisers and devotees. The Government’s safety and security measures are more about reducing deaths on paper, and ignores the serious disabilities for life of victims who survive and the medical costs incurred by the State and their family for the treatment.
The confusion leading to a stampede is nothing different from the chaos we see in public spaces caused by overcrowding and illegal encroachments due to failures in planning and implementation. The linesmen losing their lives due to electrocution while discharging their duty is about disregard for prescribed safety standards by those in authority. The recent Verna bus accident which claimed two lives is the horrific reality of Goa’s pathetic public transport system. There are fatalities on our roads practically every single day due to vehicular accidents, but all we see is the farce of road safety weeks. The recent raids by FDA on eateries and quality of food items in our markets exposes the lack of health safeguards. It is all about a moral crisis with absolutely no consideration for public health and safety when it comes to making a quick buck.
Can a selfish and irresponsible mentality prevailing in society be expected to behave any differently when it comes to discipline in places of worship?
With civic discipline on the decline, consideration for one's own safety and that of others is terribly lacking all around. For jingoism mistaken as nationalism the concepts like ‘Empathy’, 'Safe distance' and ' Right of way' are too colonial, giving rise to a jungle raj. The public has enough time to condemn religious terrorism but refuses to denounce the terrorism unleashed in their immediate locality by the absence of basic public health and safety standards for the government’s infrastructural projects. Citizens silently surrender to all sorts of compromises and failures of the government and organizers of events when it comes to public safety standards.
When citizens themselves submit to unsafe conditions, whether in religious places, on roads or in other situations, who should be considered the villains and victims in such fatal incidents? Increasing police presence cannot be a substitute for the lack of civic discipline and responsibility. With unpredictable weather conditions due to climate change, the rampant hill cutting, excavations, land filling and other activities undertaken by bypassing basic planning, engineering and safety codes are inviting fatal disasters. Many more precious lives could be lost with the growing abuse in community spaces resulting from a toxic politics and governance which is spinning out of control.
(The author has worked with community initiatives related to Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention, HIV/AIDs Prevention, Panchayati Raj, Anti- Corruption, Environment Protection and
Social Justice.)