{"id":295466,"date":"2025-02-28T12:54:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T07:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=295466"},"modified":"2025-03-01T13:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T08:07:10","slug":"maha-kumbh-how-the-stampedes-in-prayagraj-and-delhi-were-initially-claimed-to-be-rumours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/maha-kumbh-how-the-stampedes-in-prayagraj-and-delhi-were-initially-claimed-to-be-rumours\/","title":{"rendered":"His master’s voice: How media’s parroting of govt propaganda enabled officials to lie about Kumbh stampedes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Maha Kumbh Mela came to a conclusion in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, on February 26. According to government data<\/a>, a whopping 66 crore people took part in the 45-day religious gathering. The fanfare and brouhaha over the Mela recognized by the UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage was, however, somewhat marred by two unfortunate incidents of stampede, one on the Mela premises in Prayagraj and one at New Delhi rail station, that claimed at least 48 lives. What was perhaps equally unfortunate was how in the initial hours after the stampedes, the entire government machinery — from local officials to functionaries at the top-most level — tried to simply deny them, pass them off as rumours and\/or simply lied that no such mishap had taken place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The media, parroting government propaganda as it so often does, helped officials avoid basic questions such as the nature of the mishaps and the toll or the whereabouts of the injured. At a time when thousands, nay, lakhs of common citizens of the country must have been worried about their relatives visiting the Kumbh and were looking for some clear answers, the mainstream media’s callousness enabled the government to obfuscate the facts and mislead people for hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, No, May be: The February 15 Stampede at New Delhi Station<\/b><\/h4>\n

At least 18 people died and 15 were injured in a stampede at New Delhi railway station on February 15 around 9:30 pm. Initially, an attempt was made to term the incident a rumour, just as in the case of the stampede in Prayagraj on January 29 on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, in which at least 30 lives had been lost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A report by Dainik Bhaskar<\/a>, which describes the scene immediately after the stampede at the New Delhi railway station, talks about dead bodies strewn<\/a> around on the platform. However, for hours after the incident, officials repeatedly stated that the situation was normal. News of the stampede was also termed a rumour.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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At 10:48 pm, that is more than an hour after the stampede, news agency ANI quoted the Delhi Fire Service<\/a> and reported that there was a stampede-like situation at the railway station, with four fire tenders on their way to the scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Journalist Sachin Gupta shared a video at 10:56 pm<\/a> and tweeted that many passengers were reported to have fainted due to the chaos in the crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, at 11:16 pm, the CPRO of Northern Railways stated that there was no stampede. Furthermore, scenes outside the railway station were shared in order to give concrete proof of this. It is worth noting that ANI tweeted the CPRO’s statement and later deleted this tweet.<\/span><\/p>\n

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About half an hour later, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena <\/a>shared a tweet at 11:55 pm expressing his deepest condolences to the families of those who died in the stampede at the New Delhi railway station. However, just half an hour later, at 12:24 am, he edited his tweet and wrote, \u2018There has been an unfortunate and tragic loss of lives and injuries due to disorder and stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. Have spoken to the Chief Secretary and Police Commissioner and asked them to address and redress the situation.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

He removed the mention of deaths and condolences from his tweet. Below are the two versions of his tweet:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Between Saxena’s tweet and the time it was edited, i.e., at 12:05 am<\/a>, ANI shared a video of DCP Railway K P S Malhotra. It was reported that two trains were running late due to which a huge crowd of passengers gathered. The crowd was so huge that some people got injured but the situation was under control now.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 12:53 am, Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav tweeted about the incident for the second time, in neither of his tweets, he mentioned anything about casualty. His first tweet, at 11:36 pm, said that the situation was under control and the injured had been taken to the hospital. The second tweet, that quoted the first one, only said that a high-level inquiry had been ordered.\u00a0<\/span>The Union railway minister would eventually use the word \u2018stampede\u2019 and \u2018death\u2019 of people, but only after PM Modi’s tweet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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High-level inquiry ordered https:\/\/t.co\/Egaifp5Onx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) February 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Just a minute after Ashwini Vaishnav’s post, at 12:54 am, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted a video trying to show that everything was normal at New Delhi station.<\/span><\/p>\n

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New Delhi railway station as of now. pic.twitter.com\/Zf9zpG5tAO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

PM Narendra Modi tweeted at 12:56 am<\/a>, expressing grief over the stampede and offering condolences to the families of the victims. Only then did news agency ANI admit that there were deaths. Before this, ANI kept trying to portray that there was no stampede. This is in spite of the fact that Union defence minister Rajnath Singh had expressed condolences at 12:16 am<\/a>, much before PM Modi\u2019s message.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much later, at 1:09 am<\/a>, the Union railway minister found the opportune moment to express grief to those who died, or in other words, to accept that people had died in the stampede. Immediately after the stampede, pictures of dead bodies were available online. However, every effort was made to hide them. Even news agency ANI fully supported the government\u2019s stance, whereas the job of the media is to bring out the truth. In this case, the media, particularly ANI, worked tirelessly to be the government’s voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stampede, No Stampede, Stampede-like: Prayagraj Deaths on January 29<\/b><\/h4>\n

January 29 marked the day of Mauni Amavasya<\/a>, considered a holy date in the Hindu calendar. There was a huge crowd of people at Prayagraj seeking to take a dip at the Triveni Sangam. Around 2 am, a stampede broke out near Sangam Noj in which numerous people lost their lives and many were injured.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the Prime Minister and the President expressed their condolences, the Uttar Pradesh government refused to admitted the exact death toll till late evening. Besides, the incident was repeatedly termed a rumour and when questions were asked about the number of deaths, the situation was played down as nothing serious. There was a clear effort on the part of the government to suppress information about the mishap.<\/span><\/p>\n

In such incidents, what usually happens is that the number of deaths or people injured increases gradually, as in the event of an earthquake, a landslide, or a stampede. Initially, casualty figures come in from local sources. Then, when the administration establishes some control over the situation, the final figures are released. However, this was not the case with the Prayagraj stampede. This tragic accident was repeatedly underplayed as a rumour. Not only did the media not show what exactly happened, they even hesitated to use the word stampede, in stead terming it a ‘stampede-like situation’ throughout the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alt News discovered that one of the earliest tweets in this regard was shared by a person named Mayur Mitkari at 2:19 am<\/a> on January 29, in which he said that there was a stampede in the Maha Kumbh in which many people were injured. In the pictures tweeted by this user, it can be seen that many people are lying unconscious on the ground with police personnel present at the site. It is clear from this image that the administration had first-hand knowledge about the situation as early as 2.19 am.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Journalist Sachin Gupta tweeted a video at 2:49 am<\/a> and informed that there was some chaos at the Sangam at\u00a0 the Maha Kumbh, and many ambulances had reached Central Hospital. Dainik Jagran journalist Bhaskar Singh tweeted at 3:03 am<\/a> that many people had died in the stampede at the Maha Kumbh. Journalist Anuj Mishra tweeted a video at 3:10 am<\/a> and informed that a stampede broke out at the Kumbh Mela around 1 am, in which about 50 people were injured.<\/span><\/p>\n

Initially, police officials denied that anyone had died in the stampede. At 4:53 am<\/a>, Maha kumbh’s special executive officer Akanksha Rana told the media that a stampede-like situation unfolded after some barriers had been broken by devotees. He added that some people were injured and were being treated. Rana told the media that the situation was not serious.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following this, the mainstream media also took this claim forward and called the stampede a rumour, and instead of directly mentioning the stampede, the phrase ‘stampede-like situation<\/a>‘ began doing the rounds. We have provided some screenshots below which show that the same phrase was being used continuously by major media outlets. Many of these media houses had reporters present at the Kumbh Mela, but still, they thought it appropriate to report the government’s version of events served to them by officials, instead of trying to find the truth on the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n