Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh passed away on Saturday following a prolonged illness. Among his many achievements, he was prominent for materialising the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He superheaded the agitation when thousands of ‘kar sewaks’ had gathered in the holy city of Ayodhya on December 6 in 1992.
In a televised interview, Singh had said that he has no regrets, no repentance, no sorrow and no grief on the demolition of Babri Masjid. In an another interview, he said he is proud of his decision to deny permission in writing to a query on whether police should open firing on kar sewaks (literally, religious volunteers) in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
He also claimed that he had made enough security arrangements and had clearly directed officials to protect the structure of Babri Masjid at any cost. However, he added that he had also ordered officials to not fire at lakhs of kar sewaks as it would have resulted in thousands of deaths and stampedes.
“There are people who call the incident a thing of national shame, but I say it is a thing of national pride,” he had said.
When asked if he feels his then action led to the division of Hindu and Muslims who later fought years to have their respective religious establishment constructed, he said that the nation is not divided and it’s politicians who are attempting to play the game of divide and rule.
The protest on December 6, 1992 went out of hand and the Babri mosque was demolished even as Kalyan Singh claimed that proper security arrangements were made to protect the mosque. Singh’s government was dismissed immediately afterwards and the biggest state of the country was placed under President’s rule.
In an interview later, Singh said that he is happy that masjid was demolished as it paved the way for Ram temple bhumi pujan.
“I wish to die after watching the temple come up in Ayodhya and then wish to be reborn in the temple town,” he said.
Singh, who has also served as governor of Rajasthan, added that the Ram temple would lead to more tourism and the new Ayodhya that would come up would also ensure development.
