BENGALURU: Union minister Shobha Karandlaje on Thursday said the stampede is a consequence of systemic failure and complete collapse of state responsibility. In a letter to the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Shobha stated that only timely intervention of the HC can uphold justice and restore public faith in governance and the rule of law.
“The event was marred by the total lack of crowd control, planning, and coordination between government departments and police authorities. Despite clear indicators of an unprecedented public turnout -- estimated to be over 2 lakh people -- there was no proper crowd management plan, no emergency medical support, and no deployment of adequate ambulance services,” she stated.
The Union minister stated that the CM had claimed that the state government was not responsible for the stampede or the resultant deaths as the government had only organised the event at Vidhana Soudha and not at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. This disowning of responsibility amounts to a blatant attempt at whitewashing the role of the government and shielding the officers responsible for this catastrophic mismanagement. It is evident that this is a cover-up intended to grant a clean chit to the very machinery that failed the people, she stated.
“To add to the concern, the magisterial inquiry ordered by the CM, headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban -- an officer who is answerable to the same administration under scrutiny -- is inherently biased and lacks public credibility. Such an internal probe cannot be expected to conduct an impartial and independent investigation into the incident,” she stated.