Mixed response to officials handling the media briefing on the Karur stampede

A press conference by senior officials early this week on the stampede that killed 41 persons at Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam leader Vijay’s rally in Karur has triggered a discussion, even as the Tamil Nadu government has been defending the decision.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is among those who have been critical of the press conference. Addressing a gathering in Dharmapuri on Thursday, he criticised the officials briefing the press after a commission of inquiry was constituted.

Opinion is divided among former civil servants and commentators as well. Some feel that the officials should not be involved in political matters and the political executive should be accountable for the whole episode. But some others see nothing wrong in what the officials have done: after all, they are well suited to explain the nuances of the process behind clearance given by the local authorities for the Karur road show.

A former IAS officer wonders what prevented the government from fielding its senior Ministers to present its version of the events. The former official feels that giving a clarification on a point or two is fine but an elaborate response to various issues appears to be unwarranted. Another retired officer says it is not for the government to keep responding to points and questions raised by some persons on social media. Else, the authorities’ entire attention will be only on what goes on in the social media instead of on their core job.

However, a few other former civil servants differ. In a crisis situation, officials do brief the press. This is not something new, they say, recalling the press briefings handled by government officials during the COVID-19 pandemic and by middle-level officials in times of disasters in districts.

One of them says the very fact that senior officials of the rank of Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, and Additional Director-General of Police have interacted with the media shows that the government views the matter seriously. The briefing would only help the inquiry panel know the position of the government. The question of the commission getting influenced by the briefing does not arise as the task of the panel is to investigate the matter comprehensively, the former official says.

Supporting the officials, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu says that when an “unusual situation” prevails, it is the duty of government officials to facilitate fact-checking. As for issues that are not political, there is nothing wrong for officials to do the briefing. The element of neutrality is present when officials conduct press interactions. “Moreover, it is not only for the political executive to step into the picture,” he explains. Officials have to intervene when “false information is spread freely”, paving the way for unnecessary tension among people, Mr. Thennarasu adds.