Lucknow: Kalyan Singh, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, is considered as one of the leaders who spearheaded the Ram Mandir agitation. On December 6 in 1992, when thousands of 'kar sewaks' had gathered in the holy city of Ayodhya, Singh was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Following the incident, he resigned from the post taking moral responsibility, however, he never regretted the incident and kept feeling proud of it which subsequently made him the "biggest devotee" of Lord Rama and the "hero" of the temple movement. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also made its mark on the national scene on the backdrop of Ram temple agitation and leaders associated with it got politically benefited. Riding on the sentiment, the saffron party came into power not only at the Centre but also in many states dominated by the Hindu population.
Tough Decision Taken By Kalyan Singh
On the morning of December 6, 1992, when kar sevaks were gathering around the disputed structure in Ayodhya, the then District Magistrate of Faizabad district (now Ayodhya) had sent a written report to the state government seeking permission to open fire. Senior journalist PN Dwivedi says that the then chief secretary presented the report of Faizabad DM before Chief Minister Kalyan Singh. It was clearly written in the report that three to four lakh of people have gathered near Saket Mahavidyalaya, citing this, the district administration had asked whether fire should be opened or not? The report had also clearly mentioned that if the fire is opened, there will be heavy bloodshed. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Singh did not permit to open fire. He had asked the district administration to resort to other options to control the crowd. Following the instructions, the administration tried to control the crowd peacefully but could not stop them from demolishing the Babri Masjid which also led to the resignation of Chief Minister Kalyan Singh.
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Mir Baqi Constructed Babri Masjid
It is believed that Mir Baqi, Mughal emperor Babur's general, had built the Babri Masjid in 1528 by destroying a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. Kalyan Singh always believed that the Masjid was built by Baqi after demolishing the Rama temple to hurt the sentiments of crores of Hindus. Speaking of that day (Dec 2, 1992), Singh says that three important events happened that day - the demolition of Babri Masjid, his government stepped down and the possibility of construction of Ram temple became stronger. This clearly shows that Singh did not want to give the credit of Babri demolition to anyone else rather to himself.
Singh was present in Ayodhya during Bhoomi pujan for the temple
According to Dwivedi, Kalyan Singh himself has been saying that seeing the laying of the foundation stone for the Ram temple is the most important moment of his life. He was present in Ayodhya on the day of Bhoomi Pujan on August 5, 2020. "This is one of the most important days of my life. It has been my life-long dream to see a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, today that is being fulfilled," he had said. He had also said that he never regretted that his government had fallen because of the demolition of Babri Masjid.
Liberhan Commission Report Declared Kalyan Singh As One Of The Accused
After the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya, the Liberhan Commission, constituted to investigate the matter, had held Kalyan Singh guilty in its report. However, once speaking to the media, Singh had termed Commission's report rubbish and worth throwing in the garbage. He had also cited examples of former US President John F. Kennedy, former Indian Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi who were assassinated in spite of having tight security. He said that back then he had instructed the officials concerned to take all possible steps to stop the demolition. He also said that he did not allow to open fire because that could have taken the lives of a number of Ram-bhakts kar sevaks, and he did not want to take the sin of killing them. Calling it a spontaneous incident, he also denied any conspiracy behind the demolition of the disputed structure.
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