6 years after Amritsar Dasehra tragedy, victims’ kin battle psychological scars

Organisers of the 2018 Dasehra event where 58 persons were killed when a train ploughed through a huge crowd of people engrossed in watching the effigy of Ravana go up in flames did not celebrate the festival on Saturday.

Scores of other spectators who were maimed or wounded in the incident and the organisers of that event say the physical wounds have healed, but psychological scars remain.

Event organiser Sourabh Mithu Madaan, ward leader of the Congress and close aide of Navjot Singh Sidhu, said he did not hold any celebration on Saturday. Before the macabre train tragedy, he had been organising Dasehra festivity in an open space near Joda Phatak here for the past many years. However, he did not celebrate the festival after that tragedy.

“It was not even in my wildest dreams that a festive celebration could turn into the worst nightmare of my life,” he said. Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, was the chief guest of the function.

Manjinder Kaur, who lost her husband and two minor granddaughters in that incident, can’t still come out of that shock. The only reprieve for her is in the form of financial security as her son has got a job in the municipal corporation.

Deepak Kumar (24) said as a 16-year-old boy, he was an eyewitness to the tragedy. Gory scenes still continue to wake him up from sleep at night. The tragedy had claimed the lives of his father and uncle.

Accompanied by his friends, he was making a video on his mobile phone when he noticed the Howrah Mail coming from the Amritsar railway station side. He raised the alarm. Meanwhile, a DMU (diesel multiple unit) also reached there from the Jalandhar side. A large number of people were not attentive as they were engrossed in festivities. After the DMU passed by, he saw bodies strewn all over the track while screams rented the air.

He saw his father Girender Kumar had suffered serious head injuries, while the body of his uncle was lying nearby. He was taken to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

Next of the kin of the deceased got Rs 7 lakh (Rs 5 lakh from state government and Rs 2 lakh from the Centre). Thirty-four persons were given jobs by the government. The tragedy exposed omissions on part of various government departments. Upon the completion of the probe, a retired Additional Sessions Judge recommended punitive action against five officials, including Estate Officer Sushant Bhatia, Superintendent Pushpinder Singh, besides retired Additional Divisional Fire Officer Kashmir Singh, Superintendent Garish Kumar and Inspector Kewal Krishan.

They were indicted in departmental, magisterial and judicial inquiry reports. The magisterial probe was conducted by the then Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner B Purushartha who concluded that Kashmir Singh provided a fire tender and a water tanker without the MC’s permission, while Bhatia and Krishan had failed to ensure that no function was organised in the area without approval.