By Pranav Bhanot
NHSF (UK) President
National Hindu Students’ Forum (UK) are extremely saddened to hear about the trampling and drowning of 115 people attending the Dussehra celebrations on Sunday at the Ratangarh mandir in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, India. On an auspicious day where Hindus across the globe celebrate the triumph of good over evil, it is worrying to hear that the lessons of past trampling tragedies in overcrowded mandirs during our sacred festivals have been overlooked. We sincerely hope the Indian Government, Police authorities and planning agencies address the processes and logistics for those attending prayers at mandirs during busy festivals in the future.
Closer to home, in the United Kingdom, it is encouraging to hear that there were record turnouts at mandirs and garbas during the 9 nights of Navratri this year. The local communities pocketed across the country must be saluted and commended for their efforts in keeping Hindu Dharma alive.
However underlying the excitement of such energetic and vibrant evenings of song and dance lay a risk which is commonly being ignored. It is becoming increasingly evident that many organising committees for Hindu festivals, including Navratri, are ignoring fire safety limits and are over subscribing the number of people they accommodate in proportion to the size of their venues.
This has the potential to lead to major fire hazards as well as risking the health and safety of those that attend. We very much hope that communities take care over the Sharad Purnima weekend and future large scale Hindu festivals to ensure venue capacities are observed and health and safety due diligence is conducted. Indeed the incidents of mandir trampling in India are horrific but there are lessons to be learnt both in the motherland and in the United Kingdom. As a community we cannot afford for this to be overlooked.
If mandirs and communities require any legal advice in this regard or wish to pass any due diligence queries via a legal professional – please contact the Hindu Lawyers’ Association info@hindulawyers.org