Editorial: Idol worship

In yet another addition to the list of accidents indicative of the callousness of authorities when it comes to crowd control measures, a woman succumbed to asphyxiation, while her son was hospitalised in the aftermath of a crowd surge at a theatre during the premiere of a film in Hyderabad. The mishap transpired on Wednesday when large groups of fans thronged the Sandhya theatre to have a glimpse of the actor Allu Arjun at the screening of his new film. The police said that although the theatre management had information pertaining to the arrival of the actor and his entourage, there was no provision made to provide the team with a separate entry or exit point, which in itself was a sure-shot recipe for disaster.

Such incidents of overcrowding-related fatalities have become an annual affair in the country. In July, a stampede at the conclusion of a satsang organised by a self-styled godman in Hathras, UP, resulted in the deaths of 121 people, most of whom were women and children. Last November, four students were killed in a stampede at an auditorium on the main campus of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) where a tech fest was being held.

Ground zero for such accidents are not limited to religious venues or recreational hotspots as even public utilities in the country are beset by an absence of crowd control protocols. In September 2017, a stampede at the Elphinstone Road suburban railway station in Mumbai claimed 23 lives. The incident transpired at a foot overbridge, where many passengers were sheltering during the rains in the morning rush hour, and four trains arrived simultaneously.

It would be foolhardy to think that such accidents are endemic to India, as organisers of big ticket events across the world have paid the price for deprioritising safety. Last week, 56 people were killed in a stampede at a soccer stadium in southern Guinea, following clashes between fans during the final of a local tournament. Similarly, in October 2022, during Halloween festivities in the touristy Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul, 159 people were killed following a crowd surge. It just goes to show that whether it’s here or abroad, the checklist pertaining to crowd management and safety measures is something that often gets brushed over when there’s money to be made, and the authorities turn a blind eye to blatant violations.

But then, the recent episode in Hyderabad also highlights the perils associated with the ‘manufactured’ mass hysteria surrounding the release of any multi-crore star vehicle in India. It holds relevance in Chennai, where our onscreen idols are blown up in larger than life posters, subjected to rituals like paal-abhishekam (an offering of milk) by fans precariously dangling off the edges of multi-storeyed banners, splattering cakes on the posters.

In extreme displays of adulation, fans have set off fireworks right next to the silver screen inside the theatre — like how Salman Khan fanboys hurled rockets, flowerpots, and sparklers during a screening of Tiger 3 inside a hall in Malegaon. A year ago in Chennai, a 19-year-old died after falling from a moving tanker lorry near Rohini theatre in Koyambedu. The youngster was dancing atop the vehicle as part of celebrations surrounding the release of the Ajith film Thunivu. Enforcement and audits of safety protocols aside, it’s big time that the screen gods took a step back, and asked their fans to put an end to the senselessness of idol worship.