Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday expressed grief over the Karur stampede in Tamil Nadu. The stampede took place due to massive overcrowding at actor-turned-politician Vijay's rally has now killed 40 people.
Reacting to the crowd crush, the senior Congress leader said that such tragedies highlight flaws in the country's crowd management. Tharoor further added that it was heartbreaking to see such tragedies happen repeatedly, recalling the Bengaluru stampede which killed 11. Follow LIVE updates on Karur stampede here
The Congress MP further called on both the central and state governments to create strict rules and safety protocols for large gatherings to prevent future incidents.
“Its a very tragic and painful situation. Something is wrong in our country with crowd management. Every year, there seems to be an incident. We remember Bengaluru. It is very heartbreaking when we hear children being killed in these stampedes,” Tharoor told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
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{{/usCountry}}“For me, the argument is about what can we do as a systematic policy nationally to protect ordinary people. People go in a spirit to listen to a politician who happens to be a movie star, or to see cricketers, who are also stars for us, the basic thing should be that there should be certain rules, standards, and protocols in place,” he said.
"At the same time I earnestly appeal to the central government and all state governments to agree on a set of very strict procedures governing all large crowds in any circumstances so that we do not needlessly suffer the grief and anguish of loved ones being lost in these terrible stampedes," Tharoor added further.
40 killed after stampede at Vijay's TVK Rally
The tragedy at a rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president and actor Vijay in Karur, Tamil Nadu, has left at least 40 people dead and nearly 70 injured.
In response to the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia amount of two lakh rupees from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for each of the victims' families.
PM Modi also announced an amount of ₹50,000 each for the people injured in the tragic incident. Actor Vijay, commonly known as ‘Thalapathy’ by his fans, also vowed an amount of ₹20 lakhs to the kin of the victims.