It sickens me to see dead bodies in India lying uncovered in public places after accidents or mass incidents.
The latest Mid-Day Times coverage of stampede deaths at a Madhya Pradesh temple gathering on the last day of the Navratri festival shows a picture of dead bodies lying uncovered on a bridge with gawkers milling around. What beats me is why these bodies are not completely covered in white cloth and why the area is not cordoned off for police investigation and subsequent process. Were the organizers unprepared for such scenarios even though this is a regular feature of mass religious gatherings in India. In this case the crowd was estimated at 250K people with an 85 dead body count. Scores more jumped into the flowing river to escape the melee and they will add to the dead. Did the authorities not insist on disaster management procedures before permission was given for the gathering. It is not unusual for robbing and looting of corpses before the police arrive. Is the Indian public completely devoid of the least bit of decorum and civic sense. Is it dog eat dog just because the population is a horrendous 1.2 billion and value for life has pro-rated southwards? A test for the new Goan Chief Secretary Anthony de Sa and it appears from this incident that same old, same old prevails. Those 85 probably lived in misery and from the looks of it, died in it too. Roland. Toronto.
