'Slave mentality': PM Modi slams opposition for criticising govt over Maha Kumbh

Speaking at a public function in Chhattarpur, Madhya Pradesh, he said: "Nowadays we see that there is a group of leaders who mock religion, ridicule it, are engaged in dividing people and many times foreign powers also try to weaken the country and religion by supporting these people".

"People who hate the Hindu faith have been living in some phase or the other for centuries. People who have fallen into a slave mentality keep attacking our faith, beliefs and temples, our religion, culture and principles," he said.

These people, he said, "abuse our festivals, traditions and customs".

"They dare to attack the religion and culture which is progressive by nature. Dividing our society and breaking its unity is their agenda," he added.

Starting with the stampede earlier this month that left 18 dead based on reports of fecal content in the Sangam waters, the Opposition has attacked the government in connection with the Maha Kumbh.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge triggered uproar in the Parliament as he paid "tributes to the thousands who died in Kumbh."

Samajwadi Party leader Jaya Bachchan claimed the bodies of the Mahakumbh stampede victims were "being thrown into the river".

Days later, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sparked a fresh row, as she referred to the massive religious gathering as "Mrityu Kumbh" citing deaths caused by stampedes.

"It has turned into a Mrityu Kumbh," she was quoted as saying by the media. "There was no planning at all. So many people died this time."

While BJP leaders from the Centre and quite obviously Bengal strongly condemned her comments claiming to be hurtful to the religious sentiments, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj alleged the Maha Kumbh organisers did not follow proper crowd management processes.

"... There was a traffic jam of 300 kilometres. If this is not mismanagement, then what is it? People had to walk 25-30 km with their luggage... The water coming for bathing is mixed with sewage water and the scientists don't consider it fit for bathing, yet you are forcing crores of people to bathe in it," Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, popularly known as Jagadguru, told news agency ANI.

"... Your job was to either stop the drains for a few days or divert them so that people could get pure water while bathing... You knew 12 years ago that the Maha Kumbh would come after 12 years, why did you not make any effort in this regard?" he said

Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the government over the scale and expenditure of the Maha Kumbh.

The Maha Kumbh or the Great Pitcher Festival is the largest religious congregation in the world.

It will continue till February 26.

At least 30 people died in a stampede incident in the ongoing Maha Kumbh in north Indian city of Prayagraj last month.

In another incident at least 18 people died and scores others were injured in a deadly stampede that occurred at New Delhi Railway Station where hundreds of people had assembled on platforms 14 and 15 to board trains for Prayagraj.