Samajwadi Party’s (SP) deceased supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav was posthumously conferred Padma Vibhushan award by the Modi-led BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government. This move has triggered a debate where some believe this is politics beyond parties while others see this as a move to grab OBC (other backward castes) votes.

Not only was Yadav a rabid anti-Hindu but also corrupt by his own admission. “There shouldn’t be legal cases against political leaders. If politicians are jailed then how will politics go on? When I was the Defence Minister, I made the Bofors files disappear“, he has been quoted as saying.

“In recent times, only PM Modi has shown the statesman-like courage to rise above political differences and credit those who have tirelessly worked towards nation-building”, writes BJP National Spokesperson Guru Prakash justifying Yadav being conferred the second highest civilian.

“While Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the prime minister at the time, claimed that 56 people had died, Yadav put the figure at 28. But he declared that he would not have minded even more being killed to protect India’s unity and integrity. The BJP characterised the incidents as a ‘massacre’ of devout Hindus agitating for a just cause”, writes Vivek Deshpande.

What needs to be noted here is the total lack of remorse displayed by the SP supremo. The same remorselessness was on display when he ‘expressed regret‘ for the deaths of Karsewaks. “I feel sad…but I would have saved the structure even if it would have resulted in more deaths”, Yadav said while addressing a gathering of party workers in Lucknow on the occasion of the birth anniversary of socialist leader Karpoori Thakur in 2016.

“The political compulsions behind this mutual admiration are clear. But they do not negate the questions raised by the Padma Vibhushan for Yadav. Should a small demonstration of admiration by Yadav for Modi erase the BJP’s memory of the 50 people who had died in the police action he ordered? For the BJP’s rank and file, wouldn’t the award besmirch the memory of their fallen comrades? Does it also not put Modi’s honour above that of the Ram bhakts who ‘sacrificed’ their lives for the much-cherished Ram temple at the call of BJP leaders?”, questions Vivek.  

“There are two reasons for the Modi government awarding the Padma Vibhushan to Mulayam Singh Yadav: mutual respect shared between Mulayam and Modi & the BJP’s pitch for Mulayam’s legacy among voters from his community”, notes a Swarajya Mag article.

The Swarajya Mag article highlights that Kalyan Singh, hero and symbol of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, allied with Yadav in 2003 and 2009 and that Singh’s party was part of the Yadav government in 2003.

Whatever the political reasons behind giving Yadav the award, it certainly doesn’t absolve him of the cold-blooded brutal murder of Karsewaks. The spine-chilling account of how they were blindly fired at and their ‘bodies’ were disrespectfully thrown into the Sarayu river can neither be forgotten nor can Mulayam Singh Yadav be forgiven.

BJP leader LK Advani began his Rath Yatra on September 23, 1990, from Somnath and was headed towards Ayodhya. He was to reach Ayodhya for Puja on October 30. However, he was arrested on October 23 by the Bihar Police on the instructions of then-CM Lalu Prasad Yadav. Hindus, including members of the Sangh Parivar (BJP, RSS, VHP, & Bajrang Dal), continued their march towards Ayodhya.

All entries to Ayodhya were sealed and a force of 28,000 policemen was deputed by the SP patriarch. Of the 40,000 Hindus who had surrounded Ayodhya, 1000 gave a slip to the police and managed to sneak into the temple town. Kothari brothers, Ram (22) and Sharad (20) RSS volunteers who were staunch Ram bhakts from West Bengal were among those who managed to enter Ayodhya.

There are numerous instances of brutality perpetrated by the UP police under the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government. We are listing out some of them here:

1) On October 30, Mahant Nrityagopal das, Vinay Katihar, and Ashok Singhal started to move towards Ram janmabhoomi from different sites. The police lathicharged and detained the Karsewaks. The barricades were broken by a bus with detained Karsewaks driven by a sadhu. Kothari brothers managed to climb atop Babri and hoist the Bhagwa. Mulayam Singh Yadav ordered firing and the police shot down several Hindus.

2) Hindus continued their peaceful march towards the Ram janmabhoomi site on November 2 when the UP police unleashed the worst brutality under Yadav’s orders. The police pumped 7 more bullets into the head of a dying sadhu who had written Sita Ram with his blood on the road.

3) The police first caught hold of Sharad Kothari and dragged him out. Ram rushed to his brother’s aid and asked the police to shoot him but spare his brother. The police shot both brothers in the head.

Official records say 50 Hindus were killed while newspaper reports put the figure at 500. However, eyewitnesses believe more than a thousand Hindus were killed in cold blood in the firing ordered by Yadav. Many Hindus were killed in the stampede on the Saryu Bridge and the police threw their dead bodies into the river.

Are Hindus to simply forget the brutality perpetrated by Mulayam Singh Yadav only because it suits the politics of the ‘Hindutva’ party that catapulted to power on the Mandir poll plank? Do Hindu sentiments count for nothing? Can Hindu lives be discarded merely as statistics? Is that how a ‘Hindu majority’ should expect to be treated – a convenient political tool?