The stampede took place as people headed home after a satsang in the district's Phulrai village, conducted by a preacher known as Bhole Baba. Twenty-seven bodies were brought to a hospital in neighbouring Etah district. Senior Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar Singh said 23 of them were women. And 89 lay dead in Hathras itself.
The state minister said 515 ambulances are ready for the novel scheme, probably the first in the country.
"As soon as a grand Ram temple is built in Ayodhya, it will restore the glorious history of Ayodhya," he said.
The state government has also issued orders on celebration of Independence Day at state madrassas.
Explaining the rationale behind his statement, Chaudhary said, "Lord Ram's wife, goddess Sita, was abducted by Ravan, but Lanka was burnt by Hanumanji. It's injustice being done to someone by someone and the third person does not know either of them. This is the nature of Jats... they intervene whenever any injustice is done to anybody."
Krishna chants gained more currency when Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav invoked the deity.
'All statue-building is an exercise in hubris, but Mr Adityanath's enterprise begs a question: Can a state with rampant child malnutrition and 325 children dying in a Gorakhpur hospital afford Rama's benediction?' asks Sunil Sethi.
A circular asks the madrassas to hold events on the day and record them. The state government has even warned of action against madrassas which do not follow the order.
'It is obvious that the lakhs who come to see it do not see it through the prism of religion,' says Jyoti Punwani.
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