After Mamata Banerjee, Shankaracharya slams Yogi govt over Maha Kumbh crowd management

Banerjee on Tuesday slammed the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh over the recent stampede in the ongoing Maha Kumbh and said it has turned into a 'Mrityu Kumbh'.

"It has turned into a Mrityu Kumbh," she was quoted as saying by the media. "There was no planning at all. So many people died this time."

While BJP leaders from the Centre and quite obviously Bengal strongly condemned her comments claiming to be hurtful to the religious sentiments, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj alleged the Maha Kumbh organisers did not follow proper crowd management processes.

"... There was a traffic jam of 300 kilometres. If this is not mismanagement, then what is it? People had to walk 25-30 km with their luggage... The water coming for bathing is mixed with sewage water and the scientists don't consider it fit for bathing, yet you are forcing crores of people to bathe in it," Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, popularly known as Jagadguru, told news agency ANI.

"... Your job was to either stop the drains for a few days or divert them so that people could get pure water while bathing... You knew 12 years ago that the Maha Kumbh would come after 12 years, why did you not make any effort in this regard?" he said.

He also slammed the Yogi Adityanath government for spreading false propaganda that the Maha Kumbh this time was auspicious in 144 years.

"When it was known beforehand that so many people would come and there is only limited space, then a plan should have been made for it... You did not make any plans... False propaganda was spread, the talk of 144 years itself is a lie..."

Crowd management and hospitality principles were not followed... Even when people died, they tried to hide it, which was a grave crime. In such a situation, if someone calls it names, then we won't be able to oppose it..." Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party countered Banerjee's 'Mrityu Kumbh' remark and said she launched a deliberate attack on one of Hinduism’s most revered pilgrimages.

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya wrote on X: "West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, under the influence of Firhad Hakim, a known proponent of Dawat-e-Islam, has once again revealed her deep-seated contempt for Bharat’s cultural and religious traditions. By calling the sacred Maha Kumbh Mrityu Kumbh (Death Kumbh), she has launched a deliberate attack on one of Hinduism’s most revered pilgrimages, attended by millions for centuries."

The Maha Kumbh or the Great Pitcher Festival is the largest religious congregation in the world.

It will continue till February 26.

At least 30 people died in a stampede incident in the ongoing Maha Kumbh in north Indian city of Prayagraj last month.

In another incident at least 18 people died and scores others were injured in a deadly stampede that occurred at New Delhi Railway Station where hundreds of people had assembled on platforms 14 and 15 to board trains for Prayagraj.