On Wednesday (10th January), Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who is notorious for his anti-Hindu statements, sparked a fresh controversy as he justified the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh government’s ‘shoot at sight’ order resulting in the deaths of numerous unarmed karsevaks in the year 1990, after the rath yatra. The UP Police had opened fire on karsevaks on 2 November 1990, during the height of the Ram Mandir movement.
Swami Prasad Maurya gave a ‘clean chit’ to the then-Samajwadi Party government’s order to open fire on karsevaks, saying, “At the time the incident occurred at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Unruly elements committed large-scale vandalism without judicial or administrative intervention.”
Maurya asserted that the Mulayam government ordered firing on karsevaks “to safeguard the constitution and the law and to protect the peace, the then government gave shoot at sight orders. The government merely did its duty…”
This comes after Union Minister and Agra MP SP Singh Baghel recently stated, “Karsevaks were fired upon during the SP government, but if anyone from Samajwadi Party wants to come to the consecration ceremony of the Shri Ram Temple, he is welcome.”
#WATCH | Kasganj (UP): On Ram temple, Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya says, "…To safeguard the constitution and the law and to protect peace, the then government gave shoot at sight orders. The government merely did its duty…" pic.twitter.com/tpYf8wdMnJ
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 10, 2024
When asked to comment on the statement, Maurya stated, “SP Singh Baghel has been a very good friend of ours. At that time he was in Samajwadi Party. He was also a member of the Samajwadi Party when this happened in Ayodhya. That is why they should remain silent”
This, however, is not the first time that Swami Prasad Maurya has made such an outrageous statement He made a controversial statement about Ramcharitmanas last year. He also claimed that Hindu temples were constructed by demolishing Buddhist monasteries.
Notably, Maurya’s statement comes a day after Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav reportedly rejected the invitation to the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony. As reported earlier, media outlets quoted the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) sources as confirming that a VHP functionary had approached the SP chief with the invitation to attend the ceremony but Akhilesh did not “accept” the invitation saying that he did not know the person (VHP functionary) who went to invite him.
The brutal massacre of Rambhakt karsevaks in 1990
On November 2nd, 1990, the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh ordered police to open fire on Karsevaks (religious volunteers) who were protesting peacefully in Ayodhya for the reclamation of land to build a Ram Mandir. At least 40 Karsevaks were killed in the indiscriminate firing. Many others were injured in police lathi-charge and brutality. Videos from the incident show police clashing with sadhus and seers, firing bullets, forcibly taking away devotees and protesters throwing stones amidst chants of “Jai Shri Ram”. Back in 2013, Mulayam Singh Yadav expressed ‘regret’ for these deaths and stated that he had no other choice. He claimed that the BJP had gathered 11 lakh people in Ayodhya in the name of Karseva. Gunshots had to be fired for the ‘unity’ of the country. A detailed report on the 1990 horror can be read here.
