On the one hand, Hindus worldwide are looking forward to Monday’s (22nd January 2024) Pran Pratishtha (consecration ceremony), which will take place at the birthplace of Lord Ram in Dharmanagari Ayodhya. However, the actions and statements of I.N.D.I. Alliance parties are hurting the faith of Ram devotees every day.
Recently, the Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav, the younger brother of Samajwadi Party patriarch late Mulayam Singh Yadav who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh when the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was underway in the year 1990, made an audacious comment in which he defended the brutal killing of Karsevaks at Ayodhya on 30th October and 2nd November 1990 on the orders of his brother.
Shivpal Singh Yadav in his statement, offered ‘preserving the disputed structure’ as an excuse for the brutal open fire order passed by his brother and the Samajwadi Party patriarch then, which led to the death of countless Karsevaks. However, neither he nor any other party leader provided any explanation for the massacre committed by police in Sandpur, a village in Basti district which lies about 26 km from Ram Janmbhoomi.
Approximately a week before 30th October 1990, the police had entered the Sandpur village looking for Ram devotees and shot four residents. Ram Chander Yadav and Satyawan Singh passed away instantly followed by Jairaj Yadav while Mahendra Singh’s hands still bear bullet wounds. Members of all communities including general, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes as well as other backward class (OBC) women, children and elderly were brutally beaten after police opened fire on them. Their homes were pillaged.
The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against forty villagers and serious sections were invoked against them and they were thrown in jail. Among them were the individuals who had to carry out the final ceremonies for family members murdered by police gunshots. The dead bodies weren’t allowed to enter the hamlet.
Human rights are sought today even in response to the deaths of violent gangsters and terrorists. Action against authorities is also demanded. What makes this unique is that, despite months of pleading with the purported constitutional protectors, the complaint letters of the villagers went unanswered. Shivpal Singh Yadav is being questioned by all of the victims of Sandpur village about the fact that there was no court stay and no contested structure. Why, therefore, did the cops murder their family members?
OpIndia reviewed the 23rd October 1990 filed FIR. Let’s analyze the official complaint that was submitted the day following the massacre.
Police were the complainants and the 40 accused belonged to all castes
The complainant in this FIR is Ram Chander Rai, who was in command of the Dubaulia police station at the time. He named 40 locals from Sandpur, Hengapur, Tedhwa and other villages in the complaint recorded on 22nd October 1990. In addition to seven criminal acts, all of the persons were reported under FIR No. 132/1990 under Sections 147, 149, 307, 332, 333, 353, 224, 225, and 336 of the Indian Penal Code. The matter known as Government versus Rajkaran Singh is still pending before the Basti District Court.
Ramkaran Singh, Raghavendra Pratap Singh, Satya Prakash Singh, Raj Bahadur Singh, Arjun Singh, Shravan Kumar Singh, Surendra Kumar Singh, Subhash Singh, Mata Prasad Singh, Tirath Singh, Ram Naresh Singh, Gangaram, Dodhi, Bhukkur, Chandrabhan. Singh, Ram Shankar Srivastava, Bhunai, Giju, Radheshyam Yadav, Rajit, Nandu, Krishna Chander Singh, Kashinath Tiwari, Harivansh Singh, Haribhan, Surat Singh, Ram Sanware, Ram Surat Singh, Kole Singh, Shatrughan Singh and Jairaj Yadav along with others are named in it. Among them, Gangaraj, Dodhi, Bhukkur, Bhunai, Giju, Rajit, Nandu and Ram are from the scheduled caste community.
Police station in-charge was furious after hearing ‘Ram Mandir will be built there’
All of the blame had been assigned to the villagers in the formal complaint written by police station in-charge Ram Chandra Rai. He filed an FIR after learning that some persons had assembled at the home of “Vishva Hindu Parishad” (VHP) activist Ramkaran Singh in Sandpur village through an informant. Ramkaran Singh has been also charged with taking the boats from the riverbanks by force and bringing the karsevaks to Ayodhya. The police invaded the village around five in the morning based on this information. Ramkaran Singh reportedly announced, “Get everyone together. The construction of the temple will continue if the Hindus in every village share this zeal,” according to the police station in-charge.
The police have claimed in the FIR that the people were preparing to take a boat to Ayodhya. Ramkaran Singh who was heading the group declared that he would go to Ayodhya under all circumstances when he was halted. The situation was described by the police as a threat of a breach of peace. According to the police, they then detained Ramkaran Singh and a few other collaborators in accordance with sections 151/107/116. A registration with the Ram Janmbhoomi seal attached was discovered during their search which was seized by the police as well.
According to the police, certain individuals managed to get away from them when they were apprehending the accused. Ramkaran Singh reportedly stated, “Call the villagers. The time has come to make a sacrifice for Ram Janmbhoomi,” as he was being escorted from the village. Around 2,000 villagers gathered with guns in their hands after they heard him, per the police. The villagers are charged with the complaint of hitting the police with sticks and stones and trying to take their weapons, based on police station in-charge Ram Chandra Rai.
Police station in-charge Ram Chander Rai further informed that additional force arrived amid the chaos after which the police opened fire on the villagers. Two villagers named Satyawan Singh and Ram Chander Yadav died on the spot due to bullet injuries. The FIR also mentioned that Jairaj Yadav was arrested while he was wounded. The police have also claimed that they had recovered a machete and cartridges from the deceased Satyawan Singh. The police station in-charge alleged that three of his personnel received serious injuries during the assault by the villagers.
Police made false allegations in their defence
On 23rd October 2018, the main accused Ramkaran Singh requested the then Law Minister of Uttar Pradesh government to withdraw the case. He, in his letter, then noted that the case was registered by the cops in their defence after the killings of the karsevaks. He added that only 23 people are still alive out of all the alleged perpetrators. The rest have died on different dates. The Law Minister was also told that the ones alive were not only financially broke but also unable to walk. The accused asserted that they had been falsely implicated and maintained that the case was registered out of political animosity.
BJP MP demanded withdrawal of case
Harish Dwivedi, Basti MP for the Bharatiya Janata Party has also stated that political rivalry is the only driving force behind this case. On 23rd October 2018, he urged that the lawsuit should be withdrawn in a letter to the Uttar Pradesh government’s Law Minister. He encouraged the latter to drop the case against the accused and called them BJP members who are actively involved in the party. The parliamentarian highlighted, “On 22nd October 1990, during the Ram Janmbhoomi movement, two people were killed in police firing on unarmed karsevaks. Even after this, concerning the dismissal of the false litigation brought against the karsevaks by the government,” as the letter’s subject.
No action on those who showered bullets
A then-Army Major filed a complaint regarding the police violence with the Indian Police Service (IPS) Subhash Chandra Gupta, the Basti Superintendent of Police on 22nd October 1990. Musafir Singh identified himself as a resident of the village Sandpur. He insisted that a murder case ought to be brought against the accused police officers. Ramkaran Singh remarked that despite this plea, no action was taken against the implicated cops. The Superintendent of Police Basti received multiple petitions on behalf of the deceased, however it went in vain. The bereaved relatives still possess proof of their entreaties.
Demand for action on everyone from SP to constable
The villagers continue to own the names of police officers against whom a murder case has been demanded. They were identified as Ram Chander Rai (then in-charge of police station Dubaulia), Dayashankar Singh (then in-charge of police station Canton), Sub-Inspector Sriram Arun alias Siyaram Arun, Sub-Inspector Surender Rai, Constable Radheshyam, Constable Ramnath Ojha, Constable Muralidhar Dubey, Constable Om Prakash Gaur, Constable Rama Nayan Yadav, Constable Brijanandan Singh, Constable Ashok Kumar, Constable Harishchandra and 12 other unknown constables who reportedly had rifles in their hands.
The now-deceased MLA Rana Krishna Kinkar Singh also called for action against these police officers in his capacity as a witness.
However, their requests had no impact whatsoever. Speaking with OpIndia, Rajkaran Singh stated that IPS Subhash Chandra Gupta, the then-Superintendent of Police Basti had ordered the killings. The locals hope that the Yogi government will prosecute all of the police officers who slaughtered innocent people and falsely accused them. Satya Prakash Singh has kept even the postmortem report of his brother Satyawan Singh in the hope of obtaining justice today or tomorrow.
However, the family of Ram Chander Yadav could not even see the face of the deceased for the last time due to the brutality of the police, therefore, his photograph doesn’t exist today.
Confiscated licensed weapons have not been returned to date
Rajkaran Singh stated that the police came to his village several times after the 22nd October incident. During this time the police not only looted women’s jewellery and money but also seized the licensed weapons of the innocent villagers. A petition dated 9th November 1990 by 69-year-old Jagdish Singh of village Sandpur is still present with the villagers in which he is pleading with the then District Magistrate of Basti district to return his licensed firearm which was taken away by the police.
Jagdish Singh, who claimed to be extremely ill in his plea in 1990 is no longer with us. His licensed weapon was not returned to him and no one knows about its whereabouts.
Sold house, farm and jewellery to fight the lawsuit
The case registered under FIR number 132/90 is still going on in the court despite all the pleas of the villagers, former MLA Rana Krishna Kinkar and current MP Harish Dwivedi. Jairaj Yadav developed a drug addiction during his 33-year legal battle and ultimately passed away. Ramkaran Singh further asserted that over 23 defendants are still appearing in court on a regular basis. Many of them are suffering from ailments and have sold their fields and jewellery because of their dire financial circumstances.
The villagers hope that the present government will not only liberate them from the injustice that has been going on for 33 years but will also take strict action against the policemen including the Superintendent of Police who were directly or indirectly involved in the instance of 22nd October, 1990. The accused parties in the case also believe that if they receive punishment in the name of Lord Ram then it will be noted in history somewhere in Ram Janmbhoomi.
