'Couldn't digest our children dying...': Shivakumar breaks down on recalling stadium stampede  

Bengaluru, June 5 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday turned emotional and broke down before the media while talking about the stampede tragedy in which 11 persons were killed at the Chinnaswamy Stadium during the victory celebrations of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for winning the IPL 2025. 

Shivakumar could not control his emotions and spoke with a choked voice while recounting his experience of witnessing young people, aged 10 to 15 years, lying dead after the incident on Wednesday and how their bodies were moved.

"I cannot digest that our children, who deserved to live and flourish, became victims of this stampede. This unfortunate incident has caused the loss of lives. It has tarnished the prestige of Bengaluru and Karnataka. We are taking this matter very seriously, and we will investigate and rectify the shortcomings. We need to learn a lesson from this," he said, while responding to media questions at his Sadashivanagar residence.

"No one of us expected such a tragedy to happen in our state. The RCB team had informed the media that they were coming to Bengaluru. Our government had no other option. We consider this tragedy as if it happened in our own family. "

"The pain, similar to that of our own family members having died in this tragedy, is overwhelming the state. This pain is unbearable. Those who died are members of our family. In this situation, we should offer condolences, not play politics. The responsibility for this tragedy cannot be placed on one or two individuals," he said.

"The joy among fans, who had been waiting for 18 years, overflowed. As a result, a large number of people gathered, and the situation escalated. Yesterday at the hospital, the parents of the deceased pleaded, 'Don't conduct a post-mortem. Give us our child's body.' How can we hand over the bodies without such an examination? This would lead to legal problems tomorrow. We need a scientific report to understand the cause of these deaths," Shivakumar recollected.

Asked about the BJP's criticism, he said: "On this matter, I need to answer the people of the state, not the BJP. Their statements are absurd; they are masterminds at playing politics."

"Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy (of the JD-S) and the BJP are doing politics over dead bodies. This is their profession. I can provide a list of everything that happened during their administration. But I don't wish to stoop to their level to play politics. However, I have seen with my own eyes 14-15-year-old children who deserved to live, dying. No family can digest this. The Police Commissioner had asked for the event to be concluded in 10 minutes. I also spoke with the RCB team, and the programme was cut short," the Deputy CM said.

"When the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) President and Secretary couldn't go to the KSCA, I had to take them in my car. Media friends informed me that such a tragedy had occurred while I was on my way to the stadium. Later, the Commissioner informed me," he added.

"I don't care about any political criticism regarding this incident. Their antics are well-known. BJP MLC C.T. Ravi, Union Minister Kumaraswamy, the Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka, and everyone else are just playing politics. I will discuss all of this at another time. When this matter comes up for discussion in the Assembly, I will raise what happened during their time. I will not play politics now. Media personnel, too, should not raise political issues at this time. I do not wish to talk now about what all happened when actor Dr Rajkumar passed away. I don't like to play such low-level politics. The BJP and the JD-S always play politics over dead bodies. This is their political agenda," he reiterated.

On Kumaraswamy stating that Shivakumar is responsible for these deaths, the Deputy Chief Minister replied: "I will answer Kumaraswamy later. I was attending a court hearing in Kanakapura. As soon as police officials said they couldn't allow the procession, I rushed towards Bengaluru. Metro services were even stopped to prevent people from coming."