Ayodhya (UP): The proposed December 12 visit of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to the Ram Temple has evoked a mixed response from seers in Ayodhya, with a section demanding that he tender an apology for the firing on ‘karsevaks’ in 1990 when his late father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, was in power in Uttar Pradesh.
Others said that anyone who seeks refuge in the divine should be welcomed and Akhilesh cannot be blamed for the firing incidents.
In 1990, thousands of kar sevaks, mobilised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and allied organisations, marched towards the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site demanding the construction of a Ram temple, defying curfew and administrative restrictions. Police opened fire on them, leaving several dead.
The BJP has frequently used the issue to target the Samajwadi Party and questioned Akhilesh for not visiting the Ram temple, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accusing them of practising appeasement politics.
The incident also led the VHP to brand Yadav “Mullah Mulayam”, accusing him of appeasing Muslims.
Yadav, who died on October 10, 2022, was posthumously conferred the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour. President Droupadi Murmu presented the award on April 5, 2023.
“The opposition to Akhilesh in Ayodhya is political, not religious,” Jagadguru Paramhans Acharya told PTI Videos on Saturday.
“It is not based on religious grounds, because religion says that anyone who seeks refuge in the divine should be welcomed.”
He cited a verse by Lord Krishna in the Gita and a ‘chaupaai’ connected to Lord Ram in this connection. “Therefore, any opposition to Akhilesh here is purely political. It has absolutely nothing to do with religion.
“As for those demanding an apology, they should go to Mulayam Singh (Yadav) and ask him to apologise first, before expecting his son to do so. Akhilesh Yadav was not the one who ordered the firing (on karsevaks in Ayodhya),” he said.
Mahant Kamal Nayan Das said they will oppose Akhilesh’s Ayodhya tour because it is a “cosmetic” exercise.
Raju Das, president of the Hindu Suraksha Seva Sangh and Mahant of Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya, said Akhilesh should first visit Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura, the site of another key temple-mosque dispute.
“First of all, it is a matter of pride for the followers of Sanatan Dharma that those who once championed the ‘skull cap’ are now, out of necessity, prepared to embrace Sanatan Dharma,” Raju Das said
“If he (Akhilesh Yadav) is truly visiting out of genuine faith, then he should first go to Mathura, visit the Krishna Janmabhoomi, and take a pledge to demolish the Shahi Eidgah and construct a grand temple in its place,” the seer said.
He said Akhilesh should also apologise for the “grave wrong” committed by his father.
“They should visit the ‘Shaheed Gali’ in Ayodhya, where a pillar dedicated to the ‘kar sevaks’ stands, offer floral tributes, and apologise by saying that his father committed a grave wrong, and he seeks forgiveness for that. Only after doing all this should he proceed to visit the Ram Mandir,” Raju Das said.
On November 7, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that “those who fired on Ram devotees, subjected saints to lathicharge” should visit the Ram Temple only after an apology”.
On Tuesday, UP BJP chief Pankaj Chaudhary echoed the demand. “If this is not a new political ploy in the name of Lord Ram but genuine repentance, then visit the Ram temple on December 6, not 12,” Chaudhary, also a Union minister, said on X, referring to the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri mosque.
Mayor of Ayodhya Girish Pati Tripathi (who is also associated with a temple) told PTI, “Whatever the chief minister has said, it is the sentiment of the local people. He (Akhilesh Yadav) should come here after tendering an apology.”
The statements made by the seers assume importance as they come a day after Akhilesh Yadav confirmed his visit to the Ram Temple next month, saying “members of the Brahmin community” have been consulted and he would visit Ayodhya.
Asked whether he will take mediapersons along with him during his Ayodhya visit, Akhilesh Yadav said, “If Lord Shri Ram calls you, then you should go. Don’t go just because I say so. As for the date — our (associate) Pawan Pandey has consulted many members of the Brahmin community, examined the ‘nakshatras’… has determined a specific date and time, taking into account the positions of the Sun and the Moon.”
The SP chief was speaking to reporters at the party office on Friday.
On November 7, Pandey, a former Ayodhya MLA, said that the SP chief would for the first time visit the Ram temple in Ayodhya on December 12, an announcement that has turned up the political heat in the Hindi heartland state ahead of assembly polls early next year.
The ruling BJP has been attacking Akhilesh for not visiting the Ram Temple because of his “appeasement politics”, while the SP chief has been vociferously decrying “chanda chori” at the Ram Temple, accusing the BJP and Sangh outfits of malfeasance.
According to Pandey, Akhilesh Yadav and his wife, Dimple Yadav, also an MP, will visit the Ram Temple and the Hanumangarhi Temple.
This would be Akhilesh’s first visit to the Ram Temple since its January 2024 inauguration. He last visited Ayodhya, but not the temple, in October 2026 to attend a religious katha.
There have been speculations that the SP chief is experimenting with “soft Hindutva” to counter the BJP, which has consistently reminded the masses about the police firing in Ayodhya on karsevaks.
Akhilesh had earlier countered all queries about his Ram Temple visit, saying it would happen only after the Kedareshwar Dham, started by his government, in Etawah, is completed.
