'Centre should set up 'religious fund' for victims of Hathras-like incidents'

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Monday said if the NDA government wants to make India a Hindu nation it should set up a religious fund for giving compensation after Hathraslike tragediesThe Bharatiya Kisan Union BKU spokesperson made the jibe when he visited Hathras and demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation to the victims of the Hathras stampede that killed 121 people on July 2Talking to reporters he said there is no responsibility of anyone in accidents like these and urged the authorities to learn from the incident in order to prevent future tragediesAdvocating governmental responsibility Tikait said If the government wants to make it a Hindu nation then it should also create a Dharmik Fund religious fund for disbursing compensations in such accidents If not the government then who will compensate for such acts Responding to queries about the political implications of the gathering Tikait alleged that the religious programmes are the governments agendaHe alluded to broader political strategies and said For the next Dharmik Yudh religious war the government has already said Mathura is our agenda This area Hathras falls in the paridhi range of Mathura Such programmes will be held Asked about the timing and context of the event Tikait remarked The agenda was started 20 years ago much before 2014 and highlighted the longstanding nature of religious and political movements in the regionHe said India is based on krishi agriculture and rishi saintsAny fiddling with either will lead to andolan protests he saidTikait who had played a leading role in the yearlong farmer protest against the three farm laws which were later withdrawn referred to recent government initiatives and said If in Ayodhya the government is running free trains then how would anyone stop such events here he addedTikait stressed the need for compensation and preventive measures in the wake of the stampede after the satsang of selfstyled godman Surajpal who is also known as Narayan Sakar Hari and Bhole Baba at Fulrai village in Hathras Sikandra Rau areaThe victims should get a compensation of Rs 50 lakh like it was done in the Lakhimpur Kheri case Give them the compensation and it will help victims he saidIn the Lakhimpur Kheri incident some farmers were mowed down allegedly by a car linked to the then Union minister Ajay Mishta Teni in October 2021Tikait criticised the use of provocative language used in the Hathras stampedeThe soil of the place where the event took place is Dharmik Mitti religious soil The administration should make sure such words are not used in the future to prevent crowding at one place in such events he saidTikait was referring to the Hathras stampede which took place after the devotees reportedly rushed towards Bhole Baba apparently to have a darshan and to collect some soil from the spot he had walked upon and the sevadars shoved them awayIn accidents there is nobody responsible There is nobody to blame but only lessons to be learned from accidents Tikait assertedHe dismissed the efficacy of lodging cases or conducting a Special Investigation Team SIT probe suggesting instead that such inquiries merely serve to acknowledge the possibility of accidents at crowded eventsPrior to Tikaits visit Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also met with victims families and called for a hike in compensation awarded to themThe Centre and the UP government have announced Rs 2 lakh each for the dead and Rs 50000 for those injured in the July 2 stampedeSo far nine people including the chief organiser and fundraiser of the July 2 event Devprakash Madhukar have been arrested as part of the police investigation into the case which does not mention the name of preacher Surajpal as an accusedSeparately a judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge and a special investigation team led by an additional director general of police are carrying out their inquiries into the episodeGovernment agencies including police have so far blamed the organisers for mismanagement at the event noting that the size of the crowd exceeded to over 250 lakh from the permitted 80000 even though the lawyer of the godman on Saturday claimed some poisonous substance sprayed by some unidentified men triggered the stampede PTI KIS KSS KSSThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever