A file image of Shivpal Yadav (left) and the late Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Credit: PTI Photo
Etawah: Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav on Thursday justified the police firing on kar sevaks marching towards Ayodhya in 1990, saying the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government had to follow court orders and protect the Constitution.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi on Tuesday said "bullets will never be fired" in Ayodhya now and "Ram devotees will get laddoos", referring to the then CM Yadav's order to open fire on the kar sevaks in which at least five people were killed.
"Look, the Constitution was protected. The court order was followed," Shivpal Yadav, the SP general secretary, told reporters here.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading lies regarding the incident, he said, "When these people demolished the disputed structure there, which was the Babri Masjid, it was the responsibility of the administration to maintain the status quo as per the order of the court."
"Who violated the Constitution at that time? Who violated the court order? Action should have been taken against them. BJP people only tell lies. Tell me whether the court order was followed or not? Was the Constitution protected or not," he added.
Lashing out at Shivpal Yadav, UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi accused the SP leader of pursuing a minority appeasement agenda.
"As part of its minority appeasement agenda, the SP is rubbing salt into the wounds of the families of karsevaks who died in the firing. Instead, they should seek pardon by bowing in Ram Darbar. The SP and INDI alliance will have to pay for this," Tripathi said in Lucknow.
Earlier, another senior SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya had also spoken in favour of the police firing in Ayodhya.