After the demise of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his fledgling children Samajwadi Party emerge as the ‘guards’ of Muslimbring down Conferencethat the government at the Center ‘couldn’t defend the 16th century’ Ayodhya mosque ‘
But two years before that, he had won the fascination of ‘Mullah Mulayam’. As hundreds of kar sevaks were moving towards Ayodhya according to a call given by then BJP President LK Advani, Mulayam famously declared, “not even a bird can flap its wings in Ayodhya (Parinda bhi par nahi mar sakta)”. He continued this with action: ordering the police to open fire on the hordes of ferocious kar sevaks in Ayodhya – 28 of them dead.
It was October 1990. The year saw the head-on collision of ‘Mandal’ and ‘kamandal’ forces. In 1989, Mulayam took on UP CM for the first time as candidate Janata Dal, with BJP support. However, relations with the saffron party became strained when Prime Minister VP Singh, head of government led by Janata Dal at the Centre, made the Mandal Commission report to dedicate 27% of the jobs to the centres. OBC.
RSS and BJP, which are supporting VP Singh’s government at the Centre, see it as a ploy to divide Hindus. Riding on the public connection of the Ram Temple movement, especially in north and west India, the saffron group has countered it with the religious card.
LK Advani has announced a ‘yatra rath’ from Somnath to Ayodhya. Thousands of kar seva started marching towards Ayodhya to greet him and perform kar seva for the temple. October 30, 1990 is fixed as the date of kar seva at the Babri site.
Although Advani’s yatra was stopped by another Yadav chieftain, Lalu Prasad, in Bihar, the march of the kar sevaks towards Ayodhya continued. The temple town has been turned into a fortress. When the kar sevaks arrived in Ayodhya, clashes with security personnel began. On the afternoon of October 30, CM Mulayam ordered fire on the unruly kar sevaks. According to official records, 28 kar sevaks died in police shootings on October 30 and again on November 2. However, some accounts claim that 50 people died. His determination to defend the Babri Masjid earned him certification as a champion of secularism and also earned him the nickname ‘Mullah Mulayam’. His reputation among Muslims would remain intact even if the mosque was deposed two years later when he was no longer a CM.
However, in the changing socio-political landscape of the 2010s, this card still haunts him, despite many times he justifies his actions. In 2017, while speaking at his 79th birthday celebration, Mulayam said it was a “painful decision to open fire on kar sevaks but for the good of the country”.
During his first term as CM (1989-91), Mulayam was also competing with Prime Minister VP Singh to become the most popular figure in Muslim circles and the ‘secular intelligentsia’. VP Singh declared the Prophet’s birthday a national holiday and gave a speech in Mulayam’s plan to capture Advani by encouraging Lalu to do it before he could enter UP.
Shooting at the kar sevaks was the single most important factor in the BJP’s success in the 1991 polls and the party emerged as an alternative in the state. Initially, Mulayam had to pay a heavy price for this move. In the 1991 Lok Sabha election, the Janata Party won only four seats while the number of seats in the National Assembly was reduced to 34 seats.
But he remained steadfast in his strong secularist views and active support from Muslims in the UP ensured he played an important role both in the state and in Delhi. The community remained loyal to him – and even his son – in election after election after he founded his own outfit, the Samajwadi Party, in 1992. Even in in the UP poll of 2022, when SP lost for the second time in a row, it received overwhelming support from Muslim Voters.
It was only during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, when Mulayam got closer to Kalyan Singh – the ‘villain’ of the Babri destruction – that the SP community chilled. It has seen a small resurgence of Congress, having won 21 seats, ahead of the BJP and BSP, and only twice the number of the SP.
But two years before that, he had won the fascination of ‘Mullah Mulayam’. As hundreds of kar sevaks were moving towards Ayodhya according to a call given by then BJP President LK Advani, Mulayam famously declared, “not even a bird can flap its wings in Ayodhya (Parinda bhi par nahi mar sakta)”. He continued this with action: ordering the police to open fire on the hordes of ferocious kar sevaks in Ayodhya – 28 of them dead.
It was October 1990. The year saw the head-on collision of ‘Mandal’ and ‘kamandal’ forces. In 1989, Mulayam took on UP CM for the first time as candidate Janata Dal, with BJP support. However, relations with the saffron party became strained when Prime Minister VP Singh, head of government led by Janata Dal at the Centre, made the Mandal Commission report to dedicate 27% of the jobs to the centres. OBC.
RSS and BJP, which are supporting VP Singh’s government at the Centre, see it as a ploy to divide Hindus. Riding on the public connection of the Ram Temple movement, especially in north and west India, the saffron group has countered it with the religious card.
LK Advani has announced a ‘yatra rath’ from Somnath to Ayodhya. Thousands of kar seva started marching towards Ayodhya to greet him and perform kar seva for the temple. October 30, 1990 is fixed as the date of kar seva at the Babri site.
Although Advani’s yatra was stopped by another Yadav chieftain, Lalu Prasad, in Bihar, the march of the kar sevaks towards Ayodhya continued. The temple town has been turned into a fortress. When the kar sevaks arrived in Ayodhya, clashes with security personnel began. On the afternoon of October 30, CM Mulayam ordered fire on the unruly kar sevaks. According to official records, 28 kar sevaks died in police shootings on October 30 and again on November 2. However, some accounts claim that 50 people died. His determination to defend the Babri Masjid earned him certification as a champion of secularism and also earned him the nickname ‘Mullah Mulayam’. His reputation among Muslims would remain intact even if the mosque was deposed two years later when he was no longer a CM.
However, in the changing socio-political landscape of the 2010s, this card still haunts him, despite many times he justifies his actions. In 2017, while speaking at his 79th birthday celebration, Mulayam said it was a “painful decision to open fire on kar sevaks but for the good of the country”.
During his first term as CM (1989-91), Mulayam was also competing with Prime Minister VP Singh to become the most popular figure in Muslim circles and the ‘secular intelligentsia’. VP Singh declared the Prophet’s birthday a national holiday and gave a speech in Mulayam’s plan to capture Advani by encouraging Lalu to do it before he could enter UP.
Shooting at the kar sevaks was the single most important factor in the BJP’s success in the 1991 polls and the party emerged as an alternative in the state. Initially, Mulayam had to pay a heavy price for this move. In the 1991 Lok Sabha election, the Janata Party won only four seats while the number of seats in the National Assembly was reduced to 34 seats.
But he remained steadfast in his strong secularist views and active support from Muslims in the UP ensured he played an important role both in the state and in Delhi. The community remained loyal to him – and even his son – in election after election after he founded his own outfit, the Samajwadi Party, in 1992. Even in in the UP poll of 2022, when SP lost for the second time in a row, it received overwhelming support from Muslim Voters.
It was only during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, when Mulayam got closer to Kalyan Singh – the ‘villain’ of the Babri destruction – that the SP community chilled. It has seen a small resurgence of Congress, having won 21 seats, ahead of the BJP and BSP, and only twice the number of the SP.
