Dhirendra Shastri’s Thane event turns into chaos: Stampede breaks out in spiritual gathering | WATCH

Maharashtra: A stampede-like situation broke out during an event of the self-styled godman Dhirendra Shastri, alias Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, in the Mankoli Naka area of Thane. Thousands are gathered, leading to heavy security intervention.

Chaos at Thane Event

On Saturday, the gathering in Thane, Maharashtra, that was supposed to be for Dhirendra Krishna Shastri was in fact turned into a stampede by the day as tens of thousands of people crammed together to receive blessings from this self-proclaimed godman. Shastri is one of those gurus who have gained so much popularity for gaining such unbelievable fame through spiritual revelations about his people; the critics call the action mentalism. There is even a record of the government deploying some troops with sticks when the commotion spilled into chaos and participants were panicking during the event, in which there are the fallout of some people who are tossed about from the ruckus.

#WATCH | Thane, Maharashtra: A stampede-like situation occurred during the event of Bageshwar Dham chief Dhirendra Krishna Shastri in Mankoli Naka. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/nJYTyrbCBd

— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2025

Dhirendra Shastri Slogan

He is the 'peethadhishwar,' commonly referred to in the vernacular as 'maharaj,' of Bageshwar Dham, one of the new religious shrines that has begun to attract multitudes of enthusiasts. With this glory, however, Shastri has also been blamed for the way he does it, where his critics say that it is through financial exploitation that the followers gain from their religious beliefs. And with this Thane tragedy, once again the crowd congestion that typically defines the assemblages in spiritual functions finds its expression with the kind of stampedes encountered.

Parallel Cases

This stampede followed another similar stampede last month at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh during an event by another godman. Meerut did not report any deaths in the stampede but reminded everybody of the danger posed by such events. The most tragic report was of one incident that occurred in July 2023 at Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. There, a stampede from a satsang killed 121 victims who are mainly women and children. Overcrowding is, no doubt, the worst menace; crowd numbers always seem to outnumber any constraints that might have been established. Safety and security

 Improved management

There is always a fresh appeal for more security measures and responsible crowd handling for such massive religious congregations in the aftermath of such incidents. The authorities should ensure that the events are organized within safety limits so that such disasters are not repeated again. Such events have triggered debate over whether the event organizers and the law enforcement agencies are taking enough precautions to protect the lives of people attending the events.