The Question is... How Many Lives Were Lost in the Maha Kumbh Stampede?

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Feb 06, 2025

Dear Reader,

Mahashweta Devi’s novel Hajar Churashir Maa (‘Mother of 1084’) tells the story of a mother who discovers that her son lies in a police morgue as corpse number '1084'. A similar situation unfolded in the aftermath of the Maha Kumbh stampede that took place on 29 January. Bodies have been marked with numbers.

We came across the number '54' on a piece of paper that was given to the kin of Ravikala Mishra, a woman from Azamgarh who died in the stampede.

"Apart from the paper, my mother also had the same number written on her hand. Not just that — this number was also marked on the covering in which her body was wrapped," Ravikala's son told us.

The question is... What is the meaning of the number '54' written on Ravikala's hand? If the official death toll stands at 30, then what does number 54 signify?

Ravikala's family weren't given any death certificate with her body. This has happened with many of the people who were killed in the stampede.

Why weren't death certificates issued by the government?

You can read the complete story about Ravikala and other such victims on The Quint's website.

Maha Kumbh Stampede: Three Cases That Challenge the Official Claims

This is only one aspect of the government's failures.

Anil Sarathe, a resident of Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh, lost his brother Umesh Sarathe in the stampede. When he reached Prayagraj to claim the body, he was not provided with a government ambulance.

"Neither the UP government nor the MP government helped us. We had to arrange everything ourselves. I spent Rs 40,000 from my own pocket. We had to switch ambulances three times before bringing my brother’s body home," Sarathe said.

The government used helicopters to shower flower petals on the devotees, but couldn't spare enough ambulances for such people in the aftermath of a tragedy?

The government claimed to have deployed 7,000 buses for the Maha Kumbh. Yet, people trying to return to safety after the stampede had to walk as much as 50-60 kilometres — and found no mode of transport provided by the authorities.

Even something as basic as the initial death toll was announced 17 hours after the stampede. The immediate response of the government was comments such as minister Sanjay Nishad calling it a "minor event" and Officer on Special Duty, Akanksha Rana, saying, "Some people were injured. There is no serious situation."

Even after the scale of the tragedy became clear, the government mostly blamed the crowd for what happened.

But the real question is — Who was responsible for controlling the crowd?

Were there no police officials stationed when the barriers broke?

Why were separate VIP enclosures not removed earlier to prevent overcrowding?

And who is responsible for this massive tragedy — and the tragic and avoidable deaths?

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VIKAS KUMAR
Executive Editor
Quint Hindi