Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 29 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday said that political parties and public organisations should frame rules on how public events must be organised responsibly in the future, in the wake of the Karur stampede, which he described as “a tragedy that should never happen again”.
“What happened in Karur is a great tragedy; a cruel tragedy! A tragedy that has never happened before; a tragedy that should never happen again. The scenes I witnessed when I personally visited the hospital are still fresh before my eyes. I continue to remain in deep grief and sorrow,” Stalin said in a video message posted on his X handle.
He said that the moment he received the news, he rushed the district administration into action and issued all necessary orders.
“Yet, I could not remain at home; that very night, I left for Karur immediately.We have lost 41 precious lives, including children and women. An ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh has been announced for each of the bereaved families, and disbursal has already begun. The injured who are under treatment in hospitals are being given complete medical care at government cost,” the Chief Minister said.
To ascertain the full and true cause of the tragedy, a one-member Commission of Inquiry headed by former judge Justice Aruna Jagadeesan has been constituted. I assure you that the next course of action by the government will be based on the Commission’s report. Meanwhile, I have also been noticing the rumours and false information being spread on social media,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that no political leader, nor their cadre, would ever want innocent lives to be lost.
“In this incident, no matter which political party the victims belonged to, to me, they are all our Tamil brothers and sisters. Therefore, at this moment of grief and sorrow, I appeal to everyone to refrain from spreading irresponsible and malicious information. It is the duty of all of us–political parties and public organizations–to frame rules on how responsibly events of this nature must be organized in the future,” he said.
“Hence, once the Commission’s report is submitted, I assure you that the government will hold consultations with all political parties and public organisations to draft such rules and regulations. I trust that everyone will cooperate in this effort. Human life is above everything else! Humanity is what we all need!” he added.
The Chief Minister urged the political parties to set aside political positions, policy differences, and personal rivalries and think only about the welfare of the people.
“Tamil Nadu has always been a pioneer for the nation in many ways. It is our collective duty to ensure that such incidents never occur again at any time in the future!” he said.
Meanwhile, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam on Monday filed a writ petition in the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, pleading for the transfer of the probe into the recent stampede in Karur from the State police to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In the writ petition, the TVK party alleged that Saturday’s “incident was solely motivated by the DMK and its functionaries.”
“A petition has been filed before the High Court of Madras, Madurai Bench, seeking a transfer of the case from the Town Police Station of Karur to the Central Investigation Team for a probe into the entire occurrence,” Arivazhagan, the advocate for TVK, told reporters here.”It was contended (in the petition) that the incident was solely motivated by the political party DMK and its functionaries. We have made various allegations, and we have enclosed several photos and other relevant documents. The matter will be taken up on Friday, October 3,” he added. (ANI)
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