Resorting to appeasement ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls, Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Mulayam Singh on Saturday claimed that as a chief minister, his decision of ordering the firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya in 1990 was painful but necessary to preserve country's secular fabric.
"If we had let that masjid to be destroyed then the Muslims would have felt that we don't respect their religious places.This decision was needed to keep intact the faith of Muslims, the minorities in this country. 16 people were killed but if more would have been killed to keep the unity of the nation intact, then I would have done that." said the SP Chief.
Mulayam Singh however regretted his tie-up with former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Kalyan Singh ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a function in Lucknow to felicitate former Rajya Sabha MP and SP leader Bhagwati Singh, Yadav said,"I admit that it was a big mistake on my part to have allied with a leader accused of demolition of Babri mosque. Later, we parted company but I had the moral courage to admit my mistake and apologise to my party."
Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when a mob razed the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in December 1992.
Yadav said despite differences he "still enjoys good relations with Singh" but that their coming together had created a rift within his own party.
"It was because of the damage to the party that later I snapped ties with him," he said.
The SP supremo shook hands with Singh's Rashtriya Kranti Party ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections but the partnership fell apart after his party's poor performance.
(With inputs from PTI)
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