BJP, Cong slam Mulayam for 'feeling sad' for Ayodhya firing

The comments by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav that he felt "sad" for ordering firing on 'karsevaks' in 1990 were today used by BJP and Congress to slam him, with the saffron party demanding an apology from him if his feelings were "sincere".
"SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav merely said he 'felt sad' for the firing which killed karsevaks in Ayodhya. Will this console their families? He should apologise for the same," BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.
Yadav, then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had yesterday said that he felt "sad" for ordering firing on "karsevaks" in Ayodhya in 1990 but it was necessary to save the religious place.

"The karsevaks on whom Mulayam government ordered firing were bare handed. In such a case ordering firing on them was a henious crime," Pathak said.
In Delhi, BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said Yadav was trying to do "penance" for his "mistake" at a time when the SP government in the state was mired in "corruption" and was on its last breath.
"Mughal king Babur's general Mir Baqi destroyed Hindu temples, including the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Political parties for decades have been doing vote bank politics over the issue. If Yadav is sincere, then he should come out openly in support of the temple," he said.

Chairman of Congress' communications department Satyadev Tripathi criticised Yadav for raking up old issues before the Assembly polls due next year.

"Mulayam Singh Yadav is continuously speaking about firing on karsevaks in Ayodhya in order to consolidate his Muslim vote bank and help BJP to polarise Hindu vote in its favour," he said.
Yadav is purposely speaking on these lines to polarise votes on religious lines and this is not in the interest of the people of the state, he added.
The SP chief, while addressing party workers here yesterday, said, "I feel sad for firing on Karsewaks but it was necessary to save the religious place."

16 karsevaks had been killed in that firing.