Broken barricades and uncontrollable crowds stop Diljit Dosanjh’s concert in DU
The frenzied crowds at Hansraj College’s annual cultural fest, Confluence, broke barricades and thronged the stage. In addition, there was a gas leak, resulting in a stampede that put an abrupt end to singer Diljit Dosanjh’s concert on Monday.
Electric shocks, gas leaks and a horrific stampede—that’s what got served on the last day of Hansraj college’s annual cultural fest Confluence 2017. The fest’s finale was much-awaited, owing to the appearance of singer actor Diljit Dosanjh, but sadly, it did not end well for the crowd and Dosanjh.
The singer who had to appear onstage at 5 in the evening had thousands of fans waiting for him at the college grounds since 2 in the afternoon. The singer-actor finally came onstage around 7pm. The excited crowd had already broken barricades, stormed the sides of the stage and had to be repeatedly told to maintain decorum by Diljit’s team and the college authorities.
By the time Diljit finally came on stage, the crowds had mostly gathered around the stage, breaching almost every level of security possible. The singer urged the crowd to maintain decorum and promised to give them a great performance if they supported him; only to stop mid song and ask a bunch of students near the stage to move back. “Meri sab to sincere request hai, picche ho jaao. Dilli sayyano da sheher haiga, sayyano waali gal kariye aapa. Masi masi mauka milda show karan da tussi pls hon do properly (I request everyone to move away from the stage. Delhi is a city of wise people, please make a wise decision and step back. Not often do we get a chance to do such a big show, please let it happen properly),” said the singer.
However, in an effort to not disappoint the crowd, Dosanjh sang a few hit songs. It was when he was singing his hit Veer Vaar that a leak occurred in a cylinder near the stage and the audience was asked to evacuate the area, which resulted in a stampede. A nearby firework station fell, too, causing a few to suffer mild electric shocks. Dosanjh too had to be escorted to his vehicle, eventually having to leave the venue.
Arjun Nath, a student at the venue badly bruised his leg; Risheeta Malik (name changed on request) was groped and pushed around by a group of guys and Karan Singh from IP university had to seek medical help as he fell and twisted his ankle. Shubam Rawat, another student from IP university and Karan’s friend said, “It is unfortunate that this happened. Delhi doesn’t deserve to have such big artists perform for them. They are a bunch of rowdy hooligans.” Members of Pagg, a dance team which had come all the way from Amritsar were also disappointed and said, “We love Diljit paaji and we are glad at least he is safe. But, show da ki faida jidech saadi jaan nikal jaaugi. Saa kad ta logaan ne.”
Police officials claimed that they had warned event managers to not keep fireworks or cylinders around the stage, but despite warnings, they did not change the setup. “SRK had come to the college before too, but the organisers listened to us and despite the huge crowd, everything went well. What happened here is a clear case of mismanagement and ignorance on the behalf of the organisers,” said an official at the venue.
We reached out to a shocked and disappointed Dosanjh after the show who was quick to reply on finding out what had transpired. “I am always excited and enthusiastic to perform in Delhi. I really love my fans and was really happy to see such massive turn out of the show. It’s quite unfortunate that this incident happened and situation became uncontrollable . I hope to see my Delhi fans soon,” he said.
