KAR SEVAKS FELL VICTIM TO ‘SECULAR AMBITIONS’ OF MULAYAM AND LALU

The year 1990 has been considered as the era of Mandal and Kamandal politics in the country. In 1989, with the support of the BJP, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the first time as a Janata Dal candidate while VP Singh became the Prime Minister. However, the relations of these leaders with the BJP turned sour when VP Singh, who was running the Janata Dal-led government at the Centre, implemented the Mandal Commission report on the reservation of 27 per cent of jobs for OBCs. Due to this reservation, the feeling of caste animosity in the country had reached its peak. RSS and BJP considered it a ploy to divide Hindus. Meanwhile, BJP National President Lal Krishna Advani on September 25, 1990, announced the Rath Yatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya. Advani had also announced to perform Kar Seva there and had also called upon the general public to perform Kar Seva in Ayodhya on October 30.

BJP’S TREMENDOUS PRESSURE ON VP SINGH REGARDING AYODHYA

When the VP Singh government started the process of talks with the parties fighting over Ayodhya, Mulayam Singh Yadav adopted a policy of confrontation with them. During this time, there was a competition between these two leaders to become the face of secularism in the country in 1990. The result of this competition was seen in Ayodhya in 1990, where the movement was made bloody by firing bullets at unarmed kar sevaks. This has been the first and last attempt to crush any movement in the history of the country’s democracy. Earlier, British used to crush the movements in this way.

‘MULLAH’ MULAYAM

Even after Advani’s arrest, thousands of Kar Sevaks were moving towards Ayodhya, when Mulayam claimed that not even a bird could enter into Ayodhya. Following this, he ordered the police to fire on the kar sevaks in Ayodhya. Ram Nagari was transformed into a fort. As soon as the Kar Sevaks reached Ayodhya, their clash with the security personnel started. On the afternoon of October 30, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav ordered firing on the kar sevaks. According to official records, 28 kar sevaks were killed in police firing on October 30 and again on November 2. But the reality is considered to be the opposite. Claims are also made of the death of more than 100 people.

KOTHARI BROTHERS HAD HOISTED A SAFFRON FLAG

Kar Seva witnesses say that on October 30, 1990, there was heavy security around the disputed site. Amidst the curfew imposed in Ayodhya, at around 10 in the morning, kar sevaks started moving towards Babri Masjid from all directions. They were led by leaders like Ashok Singhal, Uma Bharti, and Vinay Katiyar. About 30,000 UP PAC soldiers were deployed around the disputed site and in Ayodhya city. On the same day, brothers named Sharad (20 years) and Ramkumar Kothari (23 years) hoisted the saffron flag on the dome of Babri Masjid. Later on the road, when one brother got shot by the police, the other brother rushed to his sibling’s rescue, but then the police shot the other brother also.

KAR SEVAKS BROKE BARRICADES AND REACHED THE DISPUTED SITE BY BUS

At 11 am the saints and kar sevaks controlled the bus of security forces in which the police had detained the kar sevaks and dropped them outside the city. These buses were parked near the Hanuman Garhi temple. Meanwhile, a monk pushed a bus driver and sat on the steering wheel of the bus. Breaking the barricades, the bus moved rapidly towards the disputed premises. When the road opened after the barricading was broken, more than 5,000 kar sevaks reached the disputed site. In the FIR registered, the number of this bus has been reported as U.M.R. 9720.

PEOPLE BID FAREWELL TO MULAYAM WHO OPENED FIRE ON KAR SEVAKS

In the Assembly elections held after the 1990 shootings, Mulayam Singh Yadav lost badly and Kalyan Singh became the new Chief Minister of the state. Then Mulayam was even being chided as ‘Mullah Mulayam’ because he had given orders to open fire on the kar sevaks. In July 2013, 23 years after the 1990 incident, Mulayam said that he regretted the firing but he had no other option.

LALU ARRESTED ADVANI ON THE INSTRUCTIONS OF VP SINGH

Lal Krishna Advani, who took out the Rath Yatra, was arrested on October 23, 1990, in Samastipur, Bihar. Lalu Prasad Yadav’s autobiography ‘Gopalganj to Raisina: My Political Journey’ mentions that he had ordered to shoot the person who obstructed the arrest of Advani. The officer who arrested him in Samastipur, RK Singh, is now a BJP leader. Lalu’s arrest of Advani not only hurt BJP but also Mulayam Singh. To build his image as a secular leader, Mulayam had made a plan to arrest Advani when he entered Uttar Pradesh. But Lalu won the game. After Advani’s arrest, many media reports said that this arrest was done by Lalu at the behest of VP Singh as Singh did not want Mulayam to become the face of so-called secularism by arresting Advani.