Pilgrims flooding Sangam

By J. P. Shukla

KUMBH NAGAR, JAN. 23. An unending stream of men, women and children today flooded the sandy plains at the confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati waiting for their turn to take a holy dip on the peak bathing day of the Maha Kumbh, Mauni Amavasya, tomorrow. According to the Kumbh administration, more than eight million pilgrims had arrived in the Kumbh area till this afternoon and the inflow was continuing without break. According to the authorities, the total number of bathers would cross 20 million.

The pilgrims earlier trickled into the tented township by every route. As the crowds started swelling all vehicular traffic has been stopped from entering the area since 8 a.m. today. Consequently, the pilgrims, carrying their belongings, trek eight to 10 km to arrive at the Sangam.

At the Kumbh, the people, speaking different languages, were motivated by the same desire to have a dip at the Sangam. Though their frail bodies and tattered clothes betrayed poverty, their beaming faces showed that they were prepared to undergo all hardship to achieve their goal.

The scene, at the same time, presented the callous attitude of the establishment. Tens of thousands of people were forced to spend their nights in the cold under the open sky. Many had nothing except a polythene sheet to spread on the sands.

In contrast, anybody who could pull strings was bracketed in the VIP category. These people have been issued passes to reach the Sangam in VIP cars. The officials associated with the Kumbh administration brought all luxuries into their tents at the cost of the public, was a common allegation. The authorities allotted space on the parade ground for categories of people other than pilgrims.

The Kumbh administration today issued directives to mediapersons asking them to abide by the United Provinces Mela Act, 1940, under which taking photographs of pilgrims bathing at ghats is prohibited. The directives followed intervention by the Allahabad High Court which asked the administration to comply with the legal provisions.

On January 14, a section of electronic media and press photographers took pictures of some nude foreign women and Naga sadhus and these were widely publicised. The sadhus resented this distorted presentation of the Kumbh.

The Kumbh administration has also entered into a conflict with the local mediapersons who decided to observe a day's protest strike against its ``highhandedness''. Last week a number of photographers were allegedly assaulted by the police right inside the media camp set up by the Uttar Pradesh Government. The victims alleged that certain officials instigated the assault. The Chief Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh, ordered an inquiry but no action was taken against any official. A group of local journalists has since been on a sit-in at the media camp. All official briefings have been boycotted for the past four days.

The Kumbh Commissioner has also incurred the ire of Sadhus for allotting space for a British firm, Cox and Kings, to set up a ``five star hotel'' in an area, which has been called ``Anna Kshetra'' since the days of King Harshvardhan, who gifted away all his wealth during the Kumbh. According to tradition, Anna Kshetra could not be exploited for commercial purposes. This case was also brought before the High Court and later the Supreme Court, which directed the Kumbh authorities to look afresh at the whole issue and give their decision by January 18 last. But no decision was, however, announced till today.

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