It probably has more to do with a very large amount of people in a small space with little organization, than religion.  The number of people that come to Hindu festivals in India is quite astounding.  Stampedes are always possible when large groups are crammed into small spaces with only one way out.  They have happened at sporting events here in the west with no religion involved.  Imagine if we entered those large stadiums on a small winding mountain path without security or organization and a barricade broke and someone shouted “landslide.” I don’t see how you can spin this to be the fault of religion, or some tendency of the devout to stampede. Its not like it was a religious sanctioned stampede.  It was just the tragic panic that can happen when large groups are in small spaces and something breaks.  Humans are humans religious or not.

As Religion has shown us the way again with another famous “stampede of worshipers” , the overall sadness of the devoted has no bounds.