The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh excels in the dark art of finger-pointing. Especially when the proverbial other fingers are pointing back at him. While visiting the Mahakumbh after a stampede snuffed out the lives of at least 30 pilgrims and injured 60 others last week — these, one must remember, are official estimates — a seemingly unrepentant Yogi Adityanath blamed his political opponents, who have been critical of the religious event’s management, for besmirching the glory of the Mahakumbh. He has also sniffed, quite predictably, yet another conspiracy to sully the sanatan dharma. Instead of conjuring conspiracies out of thin air, it would have helped if Mr Adityanath had paid attention to the plight of the victims and their families. There have been quite a few reports in the media documenting devotees having to run from pillar to post to get news of the whereabouts of the dead and the injured. The administration has been uncooperative, to say the least. It took 17 hours for the chief minister to admit that there had been fatalities in the stampede. Even 60 hours after the tragedy, the stipulation of releasing the names and the addresses of the dead and injured victims was not adhered to. What explains the delay? Did the officials need time to truss the metaphorical skeletons into the closet? Hospitals have also refused to issue death certificates in some instances; this will make it difficult for the families of those who perished to claim compensation that has been announced by Mr Adityanath’s government.

India’s record of ensuring public safety during religious functions has been blotted on several occasions. Deaths at these functions, on account of stampedes in particular, are not uncommon. The Mahakumbh was especially challenging, given the scale of the event and the attendance of the people. It is evident that administrative bungling contributed to the tragedy. Several survivors of the stampede have alleged that the pontoon bridges for ordinary pilgrims had been blocked, ostensibly to ensure the smooth passage of VIPs for the Shahi Snan. This kind of patently discriminatory decision-making must be investigated and punitive action taken against those responsible for the lapse. It is a matter of shame that the rules are different for pilgrims commanding different resources at one of India’s principal spiritual gatherings. Deflecting attention from these deficiencies, as Mr Adityanath is attempting to do, is akin to rubbing salt into the wounds of the grieving.