Tamil Nadu CM Vijay also announced that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) will build a memorial in Karur to honour the victims and ensure future generations remember the tragedy.
Published: July 10, 2026, 11:01 PM IST
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Thalapathy Vijay (PC: Twitter)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay turned emotional while remembering the Karur stampede, which claimed 41 lives last year. Addressing a gathering at Atlas Ground in Karur after handing over compassionate government job appointment orders to the victims’ families, Vijay said the tragedy remains the deepest wound of his life. Speaking to the crowd, Vijay said no achievement in life could erase the pain of losing innocent people. “No matter how great a height a man reaches in life, certain pains and wounds in the heart cannot be forgotten. More than anything else, the pain and wound that affected me the most is the Karur incident,” he said.
Vijay also questioned the role of the police in handling the event. He claimed that before an earlier programme in Perambalur, police had advised him to cancel it because of crowd concerns. However, no such warning was given before the Karur event despite the huge turnout.
“After finishing the Namakkal meeting, when we were coming to Karur, couldn’t the Karur police have alerted us? They could have cancelled the meeting if they felt the crowd could not be controlled. They had every right to do so. Instead, they brought us to the venue. I believed them completely and even thanked the police officers that day. I never imagined such a tragedy would happen,” he said.
Vijay asked who should be held responsible for the tragedy
“Who is responsible for all this? Who gave the orders? People, I ask you, was adequate police protection provided for such a huge crowd?” he said. Recalling the criticism he faced after the incident, Vijay said, “If my picture appeared on television, children would smile and call me ‘Vijay uncle’. We lost those innocent children who were like God. Even while I was grieving, people mocked me and blamed me, asking why I had ‘run away and hidden’.”
Vijay also announced that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) will build a memorial in Karur to honour the victims and ensure future generations remember the tragedy. “In order to make the coming generation aware of the conspiracy and plot against us, so that no one even thinks of another political conspiracy, we announce that a memorial will be built in Karur on behalf of our TVK,” he said.
2025 Karur crowd crush
Karur stampede
The Karur stampede occurred during Vijay’s rally on September 25 last year, killing 41 people. The incident triggered a political row between TVK and the DMK, with questions raised over the security arrangements.
The matter later reached the Supreme Court, which on October 13, 2025, transferred the investigation to the CBI, observing that the tragedy had shaken the “public conscience” and raised concerns about the fairness of the state probe. The DMK has since alleged that the government’s announcements of jobs and other benefits for the victims’ families could influence the ongoing investigation.
