Amritsar is ace-entertainer Kapil Sharma’s home-town. The gruesome rail tragedy that killed over 60 people has left Kapil stunned and dejected. “It is strange. I spent more than two weeks in Amritsar. In fact I was there hours before the tragedy happened. I’ve never been home for so long at a stretch. I was elated. Then this awful tragedy happened,” says Kapil.
He describes it as one of the worst calamities in his town. “I’ve never seen death on this scale so swiftly. Within seconds scores of people were gone. What sort of karma could’ve pushed them to this collective death?”
Kapil condemns attempts to politicize the tragedy. “It is the worst thing you can do at a time like this. Firstly you are guilty of gross negligence. I remember my show in Nepal was cancelled because the management thought the newly-constructed stadium was not ready. A small country like Nepal can be so concerned about citizens. Here we just leave our people to survive somehow, and then when a tragedy of this proportion happens politicians try to pass the buck. It is shameful.”
Kapil says he wanted to go back to Amritsar immediately after the gruesome calamity. “But what can I do over there? Tell me how I can be useful to the people of my hometown at a distressful time like this.”
Singer-actor-entertainer Diljit Dosanjh who is also from Amritsar adds, “It is such a horrifying incident. I am shocked. My prayers are with the bereaved.’
