BHOPAL, INDIA // Indian police and government officials were suspended over a stampede near a temple that killed at least 115 people as recriminations fly over the country’s latest religious festival disaster.
Twenty-one people, including all 17 policemen from the Ratangarh station, were suspended after devotees were crushed to death or drowned on Sunday near the temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
Outrage has been mounting over the tragedy in Ratangarh town, site of another deadly stampede seven years ago, with authorities under fire over policing levels following claims the panic was aggravated by police charging the pilgrims with batons.
“We have suspended the entire staff of the concerned police station which includes two sub-inspectors and 15 other officers for not doing their duty of regulating the crowd and preventing the stampede,” said DK Arya, the deputy police inspector general.
A commission of inquiry was expected to include the policemen in its investigation into exactly what happened and who was to blame.
“It is going to be difficult for these men as a judicial commission will now probe the role of these officers who have been removed from their posts,” Mr Arya said.
The state government said it was also suspending four officials: the collector of Datia district, the subdivisional magistrate and two police officers.
The government released announced the suspensions on Monday after the chief minister was heckled during a tour of one of the hospitals where victims were being treated.
India has a long history of deadly stampedes at religious festivals, with at least 36 people trampled to death in February as pilgrims headed home from the Kumbh Mela religious festival on the banks of Ganges.
* Agence France-Presse
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
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Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
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What is Diwali?
The Hindu festival is at once a celebration of the autumn harvest and the triumph of good over evil, as outlined in the Ramayana.
According to the Sanskrit epic, penned by the sage Valmiki, Diwali marks the time that the exiled king Rama – a mortal with superhuman powers – returned home to the city of Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, after vanquishing the 10-headed demon Ravana and conquering his kingdom of Lanka. The people of Ayodhya are believed to have lit thousands of earthen lamps to illuminate the city and to guide the royal family home.
In its current iteration, Diwali is celebrated with a puja to welcome the goodness of prosperity Lakshmi (an incarnation of Sita) into the home, which is decorated with diyas (oil lamps) or fairy lights and rangoli designs with coloured powder. Fireworks light up the sky in some parts of the word, and sweetmeats are made (or bought) by most households. It is customary to get new clothes stitched, and visit friends and family to exchange gifts and greetings.
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