Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has said that he “felt sad” for ordering firing on ‘karsewaks’ in Ayodhya in 1990, even though he maintained it was necessary to save the religious place. Mr. Mulayam Yadav was addressing party workers in Lucknow yesterday on the occasion of birth anniversary of socialist leader Karpoori Thakur.
Mr. Mulayam Singh , who was then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had ordered firing on karsewaks in Ayodhya in 1990 in which 16 people were killed. The firing on karsewaks had taken place on October 30, 1990, when the BJP-backed VHP’s Ram temple movement was at its peak.