Datia tragedy reminds me of Anusha's words

I pay tribute to over 115 devotees who have died due to a stampede caused by rumours of bridge collapse near the Ratangarh temple in Datia, Madhya Pradesh yesterday (Oct 13).

Given the utter lack of discipline in us coupled with our mostly superficial devotion to religion and apathetic government machinery, Datia-type tragedies can happen anywhere, in fact, have happened in the past in other states also.

   

The Datia stampede reminds me of these words: 'Nothing can happen until people stand up and regulate the system.' These words were uttered by Anusha Rizvi, director of ‘Peepli Live’, a film on farmers’ suicide, when the film was released over three years ago. I had also responded to Anusha’s words with a post in this blog (‘Anusha, your’re right’) on August 14, 2010. The post is still there intact.

The Datia tragedy shows we are not ready to regulate the system.  Isn’t it surprising that in a land where numerous people in the past had done 'ghor tapasaya' for getting the blessings of god, today we are spreading rumours to break queues to have a quick ‘darshan’ of our deity? It shows our devotion to the deity is only skin deep. Shouldn't it be a serious concern for the people who always talk highly of Hindu religion and Hindu culture?  Actually, big religious festivals are used by all — petty shopkeepers, policemen, and people associated with religious institutions — to milk money from the masses' devotion for their deities.

A popular belief of Hindu religion is: ‘Kan kan mein bhagwan’. That is, God is present all around us in all things, even in the minutest particle. So, then why we waste time standing in miles-long queues for a deity’s darshan?  Isn’t it better to meditate by focusing on our deity in serene surroundings near our homes and spend the time that we waste in long queues in environment protection work.

My request to people managing religious institutions: If they are really sincere about proper management of religious institutions for the good of society, then they can seek advice of IIM passouts. I am sure that these passouts, who can do anything from selling soft drinks to managing the economy, can certainly help in preventing devotees going to heaven while they are praying their deity for good, long life on earth!