RJD Leader Manoj Kumar Jha Speaks on Hathras Stampede and India’s Accident Crisis

New Delhi [India], July 4: RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha addressed the recent stampede at a religious event in Hathras, expressing concern over the frequent accidents in India. He criticized the local administration’s lack of awareness and poor crowd management, calling the state’s actions superficial.

Jha stated, “In the past years, so many committees have been formed after such accidents… No one will discuss about this in a couple of days. I know this country has turned into a country plagued by accidents. Accidents happen here every now and then.”

He questioned whether the local administration was aware of the incident and claimed that the state government’s actions were merely superficial. “Anyone in this country can preach in the name of religion. Was the local administration of the city not aware of the crowd? Crowd management is a basic ingredient and isn’t there any thought to it? Forming a committee, giving compensation of Rs 2 lakhs–all of these are just eyewashes,” he said.

Jha emphasized that compensation cannot replace the lives lost, especially those from the lower class, and urged for accountability to prevent future incidents. “We should question the administration on this matter so that, in the future, such incidents do not happen… But I know they will not be bothered. These people who lost their lives belong to the lower class and their count is just a mere statistic to them. 127…126…that’s the end of the story,” he added.

Currently, six people have been arrested in connection with the stampede, and a reward of Rs 1 lakh has been announced for the arrest of the main accused, Prakash Madhukar.