Karur stampede scars remain, but families forgive Vijay

While a few say they will vote for the TVK, others are not yet decided but pin the blame on the administration.

Karur: With tears welling up his eyes, K Sakthivel seethes with anger while talking about the September 27 stampede at the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) rally, in which his wife G Priyadarshini and teenage daughter S Dharanika were among the 41 victims.

The 49-year-old employee of the state-run liquor retailer, TASMAC, doesn’t mince words when he blames both the ruling DMK government and actor-politician C Joseph Vijay for the lack of adequate police presence and poor arrangements respectively.

“We are the victims. We lost our loved ones, and we need justice for them. Police should have ensured adequate security arrangements, and at the same time, when crowds swelled by the hour, why didn’t Vijay cancel the rally? If he had waved at the people from atop his bus, the crowd would have largely dispersed,” he told DH.

He also faulted Vijay for arriving six hours late to the venue - the TVK had said the meeting would begin at 12.30 pm but the actor-politician reached Karur at 6 pm.

‘Vijay should have ignored the advice of his aides’

Taking long pauses and trying to control his tears, Sakthivel narrated his meeting with Vijay on October 27 near Chennai during which the TVK chief apologized to him and his remaining family members.

“I did tell Vijay that his party cannot escape responsibility. His organisers should have ensured proper arrangements, and I still believe Vijay should have ignored the advice to advance the Karur rally, originally scheduled in December. He patiently listened to me,” Sakthivel said at his home in Emoor Pudhur.

“It is difficult to forget the life with my wife and daughter. I live a lonely life now,” Sakthivel said, adding that he faced pressure from the ruling party to not travel to meet Vijay. He also alleged that he had been targeted at work for “being loud” on the issue.

As the conversation turned to the April 23 elections, Sakthivel reminisced about attending meetings of the Dravida Kazhagam and Left parties from his early adulthood and became critical of the DMK and AIADMK over their politics.

However, Sakthivel seems more forgiving of Vijay.

“Will you vote for Vijay this time?” He looked at the picture of his wife and daughter hanging on the wall and said, “Yes. I will vote for his party, at least for my wife’s soul to rest in peace. She would have certainly voted for Vijay if she had been alive. I will do that now.”

‘Please prevent fans from trailing behind you’

A few hundred metres away, 20-year-old Satheesh Kumar, who lost his mother Chandra, steers clear of blaming Vijay for the stampede. “I don’t think he (Vijay) was responsible in any way for the incident,” he told DH, adding that the actor-politician had helped his grandfather with a hearing aid device after their meeting in October.

Kumar is not alone. His neighbour Kaliappan, who lost his wife Arukkani, also absolved Vijay of blame by pinning the responsibility of providing security for the rally on the government. “My wife went against my advice, and we never expected so many people to die. Vijay could have been a little careful, but what is the point in blaming anyone now,” he said.

All three had one request for Vijay and the government. The actor-politician should work towards preventing his fans from trailing behind his convoy and take time at his public meetings to discipline them. “He should tell the youngsters to behave well. Even if they don’t listen, Vijay should keep advising them. No more lives should be lost,” Kaliappan said.

The families also wanted the CBI to bring out the truth about the stampede and ensure justice for the victims.

‘Deciding close to elections’

Satheesh Kumar, a first-time voter, has not yet decided whom he will vote for. “I will decide close to the elections,” the youngster, who ekes out a living by driving a car, said. His teenage brother stepped in to say life was difficult without his mother and their only solace now is their father Selvaraj and maternal grandmother, Anjalai Devi.

Kaliappan is quite skeptical about the elections. “I am a disillusioned man now. I don’t know whom I will vote for. I have never gone to the polling station with a decision on whom I should vote for. Nothing has changed now. I will decide when I stand before the EVM,” he told DH.

At Velusamypuram, the ground zero, Mala (name changed), who runs a juice shop, vividly remembered what happened on the fateful day.

“We were watching things unfold from our balcony. The crowd swelled each passing hour, and we could not even step out of our own homes. The situation was chaotic when Vijay arrived at 7 pm, quite late. We didn’t expect that a mere political event would turn into the last day for 41 people,” she said.

Arumugam, a neighbour, pitched in to say that electricity was turned off hours before Vijay arrived at the venue, but others disputed him saying power supply was restored soon. “CBI officials came here and enquired a with people. But we have not heard anything from the agency though six months have passed. We just hope that the CBI will serve justice,” he said.