A news report about the railways asking X to take down 285 videos of casualties in the February 15 stampede at New Delhi railway station has prompted the Opposition to reiterate its allegations of a cover-up attempt by the Centre.
Hindustan Times on Friday reported that the railway ministry’s notice to X, sent under the Information Technology Act, asked the social media platform to take down these posts within 36 hours as sharing them “may create unwarranted law and order situation”.
The Opposition reacted by repeating its allegations of a cover-up bid, voiced earlier after the government had delayed acknowledging the deaths — the official toll is 18 — for hours after the tragedy.
Aam Aadmi Party spokesman Saurabh Bharadwaj posted on X: “After failing to coverup the stampede, now Central Govt’s Railways wants X to remove all videos of Railway station. This is a very dangerous preceden(t).”
In a post on X, the Congress said: “The Railway Minister should have taken responsibility for this tragic incident and resigned, but instead he is busy getting the video deleted. This is extremely shameful. The ‘Reel Minister’ has ruined the railways. He is failing miserably in providing safe travel and facilities to the passengers. The Railway Minister should resign immediately.”
Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale posted: “Railways, by policy, pays out only ₹50,000 in cash as ex-gratia. The remaining amount is paid out through bank transfer after verification BUT — after the Delhi stampede, victims’ families were given ₹10 lakhs per person in CASH & the bodies were rushed out of Delhi with security escorts. It is estimated that over ₹2 crores were given in CASH the night of the stampede.
“Why were such huge amounts given in cash? Simple — because, with cash, there’s no paper trail and it is impossible to actually know how much was paid out. When you don’t know how much was paid, you cannot know how many people died. Where did Railways get cash of over ₹2 crores in just a few hours? From what fund? And how was it withdrawn and sanctioned at midnight?
“Why would (railway minister) Ashwini Vaishnaw want these videos to disappear? Is it because the videos might show that there was a higher death toll?”
The railways haven’t publicly responded to the allegations or the news report.
Apar Gupta, founder-director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, told The Telegraph: “A stampede that has resulted in loss of life on public property, like a railway station, is open to discussion and journalistic inquiry as this places accountability on public officials — which is the root of a functional democracy.
“Any such order under the IT Act is made on the basis that the posts violate a law. What is the legal provision which prohibits the posting of visuals of the stampede?”
He added: “In the absence of such a provision, the demand to take (the videos) down is wholly illegal. This should be seen in the perspective of the railways’ self-interest in avoiding any responsibility for the loss of life.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray posted on X: “To misuse the other department of IT, the minister holds, and use it to remove videos of his failure from @X, only speaks of his failure and desperate attempt to cover it up. The minister should resign or be removed from the department.
“Railways deserves a better minister who is competent enough to run the department. Once again, this attitude shows the Union Government doesn’t want to be held accountable. It is not a democracy anymore, unless we keep our efforts on to bring back our democracy.”