Rahul meets Hathras victims’ kin, flags ‘mistakes’ by administration

The government has announced compensation of `2 lakh for those killed and `50,000 for the injured.

Gandhi was accompanied by state Congress chief Ajay Rai, party General Secretary and UP In-charge Avinash Pande, state General Secretary (Organisation) Anil Yadav and other senior Congress leaders.

On the issue of compensation, Gandhi said: “They should get compensation right now. They need it right now. If it is given six months or a year later, then that won’t help… I spoke to the families personally. About their family, children, mothers — what they did, how they were. They have said the administration was at fault. The arrangement of police that should have been there, wasn’t there. They are in grief and shock, and I tried to understand their issues.”

On Tuesday, a local preacher’s satsang in Fulrai village of Hathras led to the stampede that killed 121 people, almost all of them women. Police have so far arrested six ‘sevadars’ who were members of the organising committee of the satsang of Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba. The godman is not named in the FIR.

UP Congress General Secretary (Organisation) Yadav told The Indian Express that Gandhi reached Aligarh’s Pilakhna village at around 8.30 am where he met families who had lost multiple members in the tragedy. “He went to the homes, and met the victims’ families,” said Yadav.

Gandhi then went to Hathras’s Green Park in Vibhav Nagar where he met some more families affected by the tragedy. “He shared their grief with them, and also, told them that he will stand by them in this difficult time,” said Yadav.

According to police, 17 people from Aligarh and 19 from Hathras were killed in the stampede.

Security was beefed up in Hathras since morning for Gandhi’s arrival. A large number of police personnel were deployed on key city routes while multi-layered security rings, PTI news agency reported.

Hari Mohan, a Hathras resident who lost his aunt in the stampede, told PTI, “Rahul Gandhi interacted with us and extended his sympathies. He said he would make an effort to get the compensation amount for victims increased.”
Mrityunjay Bharti (22), a resident of Aligarh who lost her maternal grandmother in the tragedy, said: “He spoke to us and tried to understand our issues. He said he would raise the issue in Parliament so that such incidents do not happen in future.”

Asked about Gandhi’s visit, one Monu said: “He said that he will try his best to help and will talk to the government as his party is not in power.”

Aligarh-resident Mukesh Kumar said his mother, Premvati Devi (55), went to the ‘satsang’ even though he had pointed out the hot and humid weather that day. “She is on medication and she went alone from the family along with some people from the neighbourhood,” he said, adding that he later found out about a stampede at the venue.