Judicial Inquiry for Railway Stampede

We strongly condemn the insensitive attitude of the Railway authorities in blaming the passengers for the Delhi stampede of May 17. It is quite shameful to read that the railway authorities have sought to dismiss the highly avoidable human tragedy as a a local condition leading to some tripping. The authorities showing some grainy video recording to buttress their claims while ignoring the eye witness accounts and the pictures in the newspapers showing the strewn footwear and other personal belongings as reported in newspapers is highly condemnable. They need to be told that they are not the agents of a colonial power who can get away with their supercilious attitude. Bear in mind that there was a similar incident at the same railway station five years back.

The railway authorities have lost their credibility by showing this utter lack of application. We need specific answers to questions as to what was the exact cause for the change of platform? When was this known to the railway authorities and when was the announcement made for the public? Were the trains delayed to allow passengers enough time to make the change? Who was the senior most authority present at the time and what steps, if any, he took to mitigate the sufferings?

How many times they have changed platform of a train at the last moment and is there any statistical difference between change in platform for trains going to Bihar (or Eastern Uttar Pradesh) and other places? What are the causes of each of these changes and what steps have they taken to improve the system so that such last minute changes do not take place? What steps are taken to mitigate the sufferings of the affected passengers in case such a change of platform becomes inevitable? How are the announcements made? Is there a standard operating procedure which defines how much time the train would be delayed if its platform is changed?

We demand that there be an independent judicial inquiry so that such incidents are never repeated again.