Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday demanded that a law should be brought for big religious events to stop the Hathras stampede kind of incidents.
Speaking in the Upper House, Kharge said: “I want to suggest that the kind of unfortunate incidents are taking place due to blind faith and people gathered there. And there is no law to deal with it. Like for holding big satsang programme, what is access, how many people will be there, which is the nearby hospital. So a law should be made as over 135 people have lost their lives.
I request you to have a law on it, and many fake babas are in jail, he pointed out.
To this Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he has taken note of his request.
Dhankhar also said that he will not allow any members objecting to request of Kharge as he mentioned a very important issue.
“It is necessary that laws be made against ‘blind faith’ like in Karnataka and Maharashtra, so that fake people who rob people for money can be banned,” Kharge added.
A stampede at a religious congregation in Hathras resulted in over 100 fatalities on Tuesday, with many devotees suffocating and bodies piling up in a chaotic scene.
This marks one of the deadliest such incidents in recent years. The stampede occurred during a packed religious gathering, causing widespread panic and numerous casualties. The exact cause of the stampede is still being investigated.
On Wednesday Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also visited Hathras and met those injured and the families of the deceased from the stampede incident.