Lucknow: Ahead of Ram Mandir inauguration on January 22, Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya again stoked a controversy by calling the ‘Kar Sevaks’ an ‘anarchist element’ and terming the then UP government's decision to open fire on Kar Sevaks correct. 

Asserting that ‘Anarchist elements’ marched in large numbers to Ayodhya's Ram Temple in 1990s without any administrative order, Maurya said, “To safeguard the constitution and the law and to protect peace, the then government gave shoot at sight orders. The government merely did its duty." 

The ‘Ayodhya firing’ incident took place when the Uttar Pradesh Police personnel opened fire at civilians on two seperate days- October 30 and November 2, 1990, in the backdrop of Ram Rath Yatra. 

The civilians were religious volunteers (Kar Sevaks), who assembled near the Ram Janmabhoomi site at Ayodhya, with a demand to rebuild Ram Temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site. Several reports claimed that 50 people were killed in the open firing.