Bengaluru stampede: Some questions for Karnataka govt

The magnitude of the recent tragedy at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy stadium defies words. Many young lives were snuffed out during the ghastly events that occurred during the public celebration of the Indian Premier League (IPL) winner, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

- RK Raghavan

The horror could have been averted if only all those who held public office in the city and were responsible for upholding citizen safety had displayed professionalism instead of getting immersed in a dubious celebration.

IPL is a big money-laden spectacle that has an intoxicating effect on the young and old. At the Bengaluru carnival, one powerful VIP was pictured holding the trophy and hosting it sky high as if he had himself scored runs and taken wickets to help RCB win the cup. This was typical of many of our bigwigs who do not miss any photo-op to project themselves as heroes and grab the honour from those who deserved it. It doesn't matter if their antics disrupt public life and inconvenience the community at large. I am more than convinced that if RCB's well-deserved triumph had not been so unabashedly politicised, the tragedy would not have happened.