Family members meet to call for justice that hasn't been delivered yet

Fourteen years after the Uphaar tragedy, tears brought alive sour memories of pain, fear and agony of losing loved ones as families gathered on Monday to remember the 59 people who were asphyxiated and trampled to death in south Delhi's Uphaar Cinema.


14 years and still waiting: Family members of people who died in the
Uphaar tragedy came together to remember them pic/imtiyaz khan

With tearful eyes and folded hands, the families observed a two-minute silence at a prayer meeting that started at 9 a.m. in front of Smriti Upvan, a small remembrance patch near the cinema hall which has remained closed after the tragedy.

Even as the 28 families sat with silent tears and disappointment at cases dragging on even after 14 years of the tragedy, the hope for justice eventually did not fade away. "Fourteen years after the tragedy, the curtains haven't come down on the case. The struggle to ensure safety in public spaces and create accountability for innocent lives lost remains a distant dream and for over two years, the matter has been pending with the Law Commission," said Neelam Krishanamoorthy, who lost her teenaged daughter and son on an afternoon outing to watch the film Border.

She added: "We hope that we get justice, but this is wrong that the culprits have not been given any punishment till now and it is very sad that the families are still fighting for justice in an incident that could have been avoided and so many lives could have been saved."

Krishnamoorthy is also the president of the Association of the Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT).
"For so many years I'm regularly visiting the court but we still haven't got justice and even after the Uphaar Cinema incident, many such incidents have been reported from various parts of the country like Kolkata, Meerut etc.

The culprits roamed freely because there is no harsh action that would be taken against them," said Naveen Saini, who lost his daughter in Uphaar Cinema tragedy. "We are fighting for justice for the 14 years and everytime we go for the hearing, the dates are extended by the court. Everybody is waiting for the justice," said Vikas, who lost his father.

The wait isn't over
Mrs Bhalla, who lost her husband said: "We live in a democratic country and after 14 years of tragedy we haven't got justice and we are feeling bad about it. Everybody has lost somebody or the other. We will hope that we will get justice soon." In 1997, 59 people died and over 100 were injured when a major fire broke out in the packed Uphaar cinema hall in south Delhi during the screening of J.P. Dutta's war movie Border. The fire
was sparked by a blast in a transformer in an underground parking lot in the five-storey building which housed the cinema hall and several offices. By the time the audience realised what had happened, the hall, owned by real estate developers Ansal, was on fire. It was too late and many died of asphyxiation while others lost their lives in a stampede.