Recalling ‘Mother of 1084’

Vikas Kumar

Mahashweta Devi’s novel Mother of 1084 tells the story of a mother who discovers that her son lies in a police morgue as corpse number 1084. A similar situation has unfolded in the aftermath of the Maha Kumbh stampede, where bodies in the morgue have been marked with numbers. The story of body number 54 is one such case. If the official death toll stands at 30, then what does number 54 signify?

Anil Sarathe did not receive a government ambulance, so he had to spend nearly Rs 40,000 to take his loved one’s body home.

At the very Maha Kumbh where flowers were showered from helicopters, grieving families struggled to find a government ambulance to transport the bodies of their loved ones. The same event, hailed as the largest high-tech fair on the sand, handed out handwritten scraps of paper instead of official death certificates to the deceased’s families.

Despite the deployment of 50,000 police personnel and AI-based 360-degree surveillance cameras, authorities claimed a stampede had occurred, yet police officials stated they had no knowledge of it. In a gathering where real-time pilgrim counts were available, why did it take 17 hours to report the death toll?

The stampede on 29 January claimed many lives. While the official death toll is 30, eyewitnesses and documents obtained suggest the number is significantly higher. Additionally, the list of missing persons is long.

How many more stories of separated loved ones need to be told? The real question now is about accountability–exposing the truth behind official claims and determining responsibility. The answers must come from those in charge of the Maha Kumbh.

Mahendra Mishra from Azamgarh was handed a small piece of paper along with his wife’s body. It contained her Aadhaar number and the date.

But the most striking detail was the number 54 written at the bottom. This raises two key questions:

1.   Why is there no signature from a doctor or any official on the paper?
2.   What exactly does number 54 signify?

“Apart from the paper, my mother also had the same number written on her hand. Not just that–this number was also marked on the covering in which her body was wrapped”, said son of the deceased Ravi Kala.

No one knows what this number represents. Is it a body number or something else? The government has officially stated that 30 people died in the tragedy. But if this number represents a corpse count, does that mean the actual death toll is 54–or even higher?

Mahendra Mishra’s case is not the only one. Surjeet Poddar from Kolkata and Dulal Bhuniya from West Medinipur, who lost his sister in the tragedy, also did not receive official death certificates.

Instead, Mahendra was given another handwritten document from his local police station. Yet again, no official signature was present. However, the document clearly stated that Ravi Kala died in the Prayagraj Maha Kumbh stampede.

Anil Sarathe, a resident of Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh, lost his brother Umesh Sarathe in the stampede. When he reached Prayagraj to claim the body, he was not provided a government ambulance.

Neither the UP government nor the MP government helped the people who lost their relatives. W
Anil Sarathe, Resident of MP, lost his brother.

The government claimed to have deployed 7,000 buses for the Maha Kumbh. Yet 70-year-old Balikaran Singh and his 60-year-old wife, Devi Singh, had to walk 60 kilometres on foot to return home after the stampede.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajesh Dwivedi outrightly denied that a stampede took place.

‘There was heavy crowding, due to which some devotees were injured.’

Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Akanksha Rana admitted that some barriers at Sangam Nose had broken, causing a chaotic situation, but insisted: “Some people were injured. There is no serious situation.”

UP Minister Sanjay Nishad, a cabinet minister dismissed the incident.

‘In such a massive event, minor incidents happen.’

UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s post on X:

An official post claimed that bathing at all ghats was peaceful and urged people not to believe in rumours.

Despite the tragedy occurring overnight, there was no official acknowledgment of deaths throughout the next morning and afternoon. Meanwhile, as the Shankaracharyas performed the ‘Amrit Snan’ and Naga Sadhus waved their swords; helicopters continued showering flowers on the devotees.

Yet, no official death toll was released for nearly 17 hours.

Finally, at a press conference held much later, Maha Kumbh DIG Vaibhav Krishna revealed:

*    30 devotees had died
*    60 were injured

The authorities effectively blamed the crowd for the incident.

But the real question is: Who was responsible for controlling the crowd?

The biggest unanswered question remains:

*    What does Number 54 mean?
*    Did the government truly not know the actual number of deaths?
*    What about eyewitness accounts stating that the death toll could be 100-150?

The question remains–who is responsible for this massive tragedy and so many deaths?

(Source: The Quint)

Back to Home Page

Frontier
Vol 57, No. 35, Feb 23 - March 1, 2025