It's controversial/ Karsevaks Were Fired Upon to Protect The Constitution: Shivpal Yadav

New Delhi: Ahead of the much-awaited Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shivpal Yadav on Thursday defended police firing on Karsevaks in 1990. Speaking to reporters, Yadav said that Karsevaks were fired upon to protect the constitution. For the unversed, on October 30, 1990, a controversial incident unfolded when Mulayam Singh Yadav, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, issued a directive for the police to open fire on the gathering of Karsevaks in Ayodhya. 

"Let them try and enter Ayodhya. We will teach them the meaning of law. No masjid will be broken." Mulayam Singh Yadav had declared  to oppose the rath yatra of LK Advani. The Karsevaks were heading towards the Babri Masjid in response to the call made by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Before Shivpal Yadav, senior Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya had justified the firing on the Karsevaks. He had said that the Samajwadi Party government at that time had fired to maintain peace and order. He had also called Karsevaks  as ‘unruly elements’. 

Swami Prasad had said,"At the time of the incident in Ayodhya, there was widespread violence by unruly elements without any judicial or administrative orders. By firing, the then Uttar Pradesh government fulfilled its duty".