Book Mulayam for police firing on Ayodhya 'karsewaks' in 1990: VHP

Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had ordered the police to open fire on 'karsewaks' in Ayodhya in 1990.

Lucknow: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today asked the Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government to lodge an FIR against Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav for ordering the police to fire on 'karsewaks' in Ayodhya in 1990 when he was the chief minister.

"The SP founder has repeatedly claimed that he got the security personnel to open fire on karsewaks in Ayodhya in 1990 and the Yogi Adityanath government needs to take cognisance of this statement and get him immediately arrested after lodging an FIR," media incharge of the VHP Sharad Sharma said in a statement here.

He said the family members of those devotees of Lord Ram who lost their lives in the police firing will be contacted and an appeal will be made to the UP government as well as in the court for lodging a case against the SP patron.

Drawing a parallel with General Dyer, who had opened fire on innocents in the Jallianwala Bagh during the British rule, Sharma said the "same act of cowardice" was committed by Mulayam Singh Yadav for saving his government and increasing his vote share.

He is giving the same advice to his son Akhilesh Yadav, he said.

"The VHP in its three-day 'dharam sansad' slated for November 24 to 26 in Karnataka will, besides the Ram Janmabhumi issue, deliberate on Mulayam Singh Yadav's acceptance for this "heinous crime," Sharma said.

Asked about the VHP's demand, BJP state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that he did not want to comment on it.

"Mulayam's statement came to polarise Muslim votes during the ongoing civic polls. He has proved unsuccessful politically and is making such statements to establish his son Akhilesh Yadav," Pathak claimed.

Former advisor to the state governor and legal expert CB Pandey when asked said that while the authorities may lodge an FIR but unforeseen complications may spring up during the probe.

He, however, said that it would be difficult to comment on "technical complexities that may crop up during such a probe".

During his 79th birthday celebrations here yesterday, Mulayam Singh Yadav had justified his order to the Uttar Pradesh police to open fire on karsewaks (volunteers), who were marching towards Ayodhya, when he was the chief minister.

"Had even more people been killed for the sake of the country's unity and integrity, the security forces would have done that," he had stated.

The former chief minister said that 28 lives were lost in the police firing at Ayodhya on October 30, 1990.

The firing had earned him the nickname of 'Mullah Mulayam' in the Muslim community, which accounts for nearly 20 percent of the state's population.