The horrifying news on Sunday morning that there were over 100 people dead and another almost 400 injured as a temple in Kerala went up in flames, numbed the country and even sent Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and others flying to Kerala within hours of the tragedy. But this was no ordinary accident, the fire sparked off when sparks of fireworks fell on a storeroom where more fireworks had been stored and these exploded, igniting the fire and trapping people in the temple.
It could have been avoided, rather simply, had the fireworks display not taken place. Reports emerging from Kerala state that the temple authorities did not have permission to go ahead with the fireworks display. In that case, how did the fireworks display take place when it was not permitted?
There will now be fingers pointed and questions asked. The State’s Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, who went on to state that the temple committee did not even have permission to store fireworks, has already ordered a judicial inquiry as well as a probe by the Crime Branch into the tragedy. Both investigations will take time, their reports coming weeks and months from now, but at the moment all indications are that the tragedy has political overtones.
Against this backdrop, do we have to await the findings of the two probes to determine the reasons for the firework display? If there were no permissions, then how is it that the local authorities were not able to stop the display? The State’s Home Minister has said that when lakhs of people were gathered at the temple there was little the police could do to take action as it could lead to other problems. But there is more to it than just this.
The rather simple answer to why the fireworks display was allowed to take place, and one that reports emerging from the State are clearly hinting at, is political pressure. Kerala is in the midst of an election campaign and for the local political bigwigs of the area, holding the fireworks display was more important than the lives of the people. This, political pressure, is what stopped the authorities from acting against the display of fireworks.
The story repeats everywhere. Whether in Goa, Kerala or elsewhere in the country, political pressure subverts the rule of law. But will the judicial and crime branch inquiries in Kerala hold the politicians who exerted pressure to go ahead with the fireworks display responsible or will they be allowed to go free? The fireworks contractor, already arrested, will probably be held guilty, the temple committee members some of who have been booked, will also face charges, which at this moment include attempt to murder.
Besides the fireworks contractor and the temple committee, in all likelihood, the local police or district administration will also be taken to task for their failure to ensure that the fireworks display was not held, for an example will have to be made. But the politicians who used their power to allow the fireworks display will go free as there will be no paper trail leading to them.
There are many lessons to be learnt from this tragedy. Beginning with the fondness that Kerala has for fireworks at celebrations and whose fireworks shows are known to be of industrial high-intensity quality that tend to endanger lives. In the past the displays have led to accidents but not of this scale. Other States too have fireworks displays, but they are done without risking lives.
The Indian Medical Association’s Kerala branch plans to move the Kerala High Court seeking a ban on fireworks display. That may not be the answer. Kerala needs to ensure that its fireworks do not endanger people and that the rule of law is followed. Had there been no political pressure exerted, this fireworks display would not have taken place and this tragedy not occurred. It’s a matter of following the law.
