A day after regretting his temporary bon homie with former BJP CM Kalyan Singh, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav defended the police firing on kar sevaks at the disputed Ram Janma Bhoomi- Babri mosque site at Ayodhya during the Vishwa Hindu Parishad sponsored kar sewak in October 1990 that resulted in the death of 16 kar sevaks.
“I ordered police firing to protect the Babri mosque or else Muslims would have lost faith in the Indian constitutional political order. Total 16 persons were killed in the firing and even if 30 persons had died, I would not have changed my order,’’ Yadav said on Saturday. He released a book on his political profile Rs Badhte Gaye Shaasik Kadam’ penned by a journalist.SP chief’s comments may have come as music the ears of Muslims even as BSP chief Mayawati is set to address a big rally in Azamgarh - the lok Sabha constituency of Mulayam Singh Yadav with sizeable Muslim population, on Sunday.
“Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also very angry with me and had told me that I should not have ordered police firing.I had to face all round flak for the firing. It was a painful decision and I took it with a heavy heart. But it was needed to maintain the faith of minorities and protect the unity and integrity of India,’’ he said, who headed the then Janata Dal Government.
Recalling the reaction of lok Sabha members after the firing, the SP chief said, “When I went to the Central Hall of the Parliament I was condemned as the Rs killer of humanity’. But
Socialism taught me to take the people along irrespective of their caste, creed and religion.’’