Religious stampede kills 150 in India

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2005-01-25 09:28am

CNN wrote:NEW DELHI, India -- A stampede of religious pilgrims heading to a Hindu shrine, has killed at least 150 people in western India, according to officials.

About 200,000 Hindu worshippers had gathered Tuesday afternoon along the narrow road leading up to the Mandhara Devi shrine when a small fire sparked by an electrical short circuit apparently caused a panic, triggering the stampede, officials said.

"Most of those who died were women and small children," said police officer P.Sabale.

The shrine to the Hindu goddess is located on a hill above the town of Wai, about 150 miles southeast of Mumbai.

Hindus congregate every year at the hilltop temple of the Hindu goddess Mandra Devi on a full moon night, which falls on Tuesday this year. The devotees had started arriving in the area Monday.

Stampedes occur frequently at Hindu religious festivals, which are attended by huge numbers of worshippers.

In August 2004, at least 39 Hindus were killed when pilgrims stampeded on the banks of a holy river in Nasik, a town 175 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of Bombay.

In the worst-ever accident, about 800 pilgrims died in 1954 at a Hindu festival in the northern city of Allahabad.

So, Hinduism kills people en masse too. I think this just leaves Buddhism, Wiccanism and Devil worship as non-violent religions.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-01-25 09:49am

Post by **Beowulf** » 2005-01-25 09:50am

wautd wrote:hehe

What the fuck is so funny about 150 people dying?

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2005-01-25 09:53am

I think it's the following picture:

Crowd: Oh Great and powerful God of <insert here>! We praise you! We worship you! lulululuulululululululululululuulululululululu

God: *swat*

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-01-25 09:56am

Beowulf wrote:
wautd wrote:hehe
What the fuck is so funny about 150 people dying?

I found Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba's reply ironic

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2005-01-25 10:36am

Not surprising. No matter what the religion, they're all based on mindless adherence to some dogma, and everyone ends up behaving like sheep (or in this case, cattle)

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2005-01-25 12:47pm

300 now

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4204877.stm

Boyish-Tigerlilly · Post by **Boyish-Tigerlilly** » 2005-01-25 03:22pm

So, Hinduism kills people en masse too. I think this just leaves Buddhism, Wiccanism and Devil worship as non-violent religions.

Buddhism is a violent thing too. On CNN a while back, they showed yearly pictures of a Buddhist meditation at a temple, and the Buddhists were fighting and beating the shit ot of each other to pray there for the day.

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2005-01-25 03:47pm

I almost feel compelled to make some joke on how they worship cows and act like them too. But it's a bit too tragic for something like that.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2005-01-25 03:54pm

Might I point out that the stampede was not religious? The gathering was, but until stampedes are a part of a religious ceremony, they are not religious events.

The stampede is a part of the risk run in any large gathering of people. If this had happened at a civil rights march, say, I doubt you would be saying that the civil rights movement killed those people.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2005-01-25 08:44pm

Rogue 9 wrote:Might I point out that the stampede was not religious? The gathering was, but until stampedes are a part of a religious ceremony, they are not religious events. The stampede is a part of the risk run in any large gathering of people. If this had happened at a civil rights march, say, I doubt you would be saying that the civil rights movement killed those people.

But its about religion, and this is SDnet. Any possible hit against religion ust be used.

Still, I suppose that technically it isn't.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-01-25 09:05pm

I was expecting this to occur for the Hajj like last year, but seems the Indians have taken that title of dumbest loss of life recently.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2005-01-25 09:06pm

Boyish-Tigerlilly wrote:Buddhism is a violent thing too. On CNN a while back, they showed yearly pictures of a Buddhist meditation at a temple, and the Buddhists were fighting and beating the shit ot of each other to pray there for the day.

Must've been those famed Buddhist fighting monks testing out their kung-fu skills.

Pick · Post by **Pick** » 2005-01-25 10:42pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:I was expecting this to occur for the Hajj like last year, but seems the Indians have taken that title of dumbest loss of life recently.

From my general understanding, the Hajj seems to go pretty well as a rule, even for such a large gathering.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-01-25 10:57pm

This is like saying music is violent when people get killed in a nightclub fire ..... it was a freakin' accident caused by having a lot of people in a confined space.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2005-01-26 02:57am

Buddhism, Wiccanism and Devil worship as non-violent religions.

Well, the Buddhist temples in Japan raised huge armies of warrior monks to do battle with the feudal lords and other temples, so they're off the list.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2005-01-26 04:18am

In the worst-ever accident, about 800 pilgrims died in 1954 at a Hindu festival in the northern city of Allahabad.

Considering the traditional hostilities between muslims and hindus in India I found this amusing.