Gayatri family celebrations conclude

Haridwar, November 9

The Gayatri family celebrations marking the 100th birth anniversary of Shantikunj founder Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya concluded on a silent note amid yajna rituals for the peace to the souls of the victims of yesterday’s stampede today. The venue was shifted to Gyan Manch at Rodibelwala.

Around 50,000 devotees participated in the yajna rituals that saw lighting of ‘diyas’. Shantikunj head Pranav Pandya announced the end of the four-day celebrations, a day before their scheduled culmination.

Seemed dejected, Dr Pandya termed the incident as unfortunate and prayed for the peace to the departed souls as well as timely recovery of the injured.

Meanwhile, the entire temporary infrastructure set up for the celebrations at the Kumbh mela venue was dismantled. The whole mela area, which had been filled with lakhs of people for the past two days, bore a deserted look today.

Thousands still arrived here for the celebrations today too, but were told by the Shantikunj organisers to return immediately. Many of them took the ashes from “yajnashala” and holy Ganga water along with them.

Additional trains and buses were plied to cope the massive rush of devotees. 

Shantikunj head blamed

Haridwar, November 9
The Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP ) has blamed the Shantikunj head, Dr Pranav Pandya, for yesterday’s stampede at Hardiwar in which 16 persons were killed. It has also sought explanation from the district administration.

The national chief of the ABAP, Shri Mahant Gyandas, flayed the Shantikunj head for his “overconfidence” to prove himself above other saints.

Demanding immediate arrest of Dr Pranav Pandya and core members of his team, Shri Mahant Gyandas said: “It has become a publicity trend to use the term Maha Kumbh during any large-scale event, which is not appropriate.”

“The original Maha Kumbh is unique and being organised for centuries. One should not try to match any such festive with the Maha Kumbh,”said he said.

He also took great exception to Pandya’s statement about miscalculation in judging the exact number of devotees.

“He (Pandya) also misguided the district administration on the exact number of people expected to participate in the festive,” he added.

Demanding a probe into the alleged collection of funds in the name of this festive, the ABAP head accused the Haridwar administration of leaving the responsibility of the management of the festival on Shantikunj alone.
Yajnashala organisers booked

Haridwar, November 9
The police today registered a case against the organisers of yajnashala in the stampede incident in the Laljiwala-Kumbh area here yesterday. They had been looking after the yajnashala proceedings that were being organised as part of the 100th birth anniversary celebrations of Shantikunj founder Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya.

If found guilty, they can be sentenced to a two-year imprisonment. The police can even arrest the organisers without any warrant.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the tragedy has reached 20. The deceased have been identified as Yashoda Devi, Munni Devi, Jaya Ben and Ambrika Devi.