An eyewitness of the 1990 firing incident that happened in Ayodhya, Sri Om Bharati has been invited to the Ram Temple 'Pranpratishta' or concecration ceremony on Januray 22, as per news agency ANI.
When the firing on karsevaks began, former VHP President Ashok Singhal and Kothari brothers along with 125 other karsevaks took shelter at Om Bharati's place to save themselves from the firing.
As the campaign for Ram Temple gathered momentum after RSS Pratinidhi Sabha's resolution in 1986, BJP president LK Advani planned on leading a nation-wide 'Rath Yatra'.
The Janata Dal that led the government at Centre was however, completely against the RSS, VHP, and BJP led Ayodhya campaign for a temple at the site of Babri Masjid. Janta Dal leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was also the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh at that time declared his opposition for the 'Rath Yatra' and warned BJP of a lesson in the 'meaning of law' and declared that no masjid would be broken.
Although LK Advani was arrested in Bihar, a huge gathering of karsevaks gathered in UP to join the Ayodhya campaign. Janta Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Chief Minister in Bihar at that time.
On October 30, the karsevaks marched towards the mosque and though their intention was not clear, a clash erupted between the karsevaks and police. Ayodhya was already guarded with heavy security and curfew was imposed.
Despite the curfew, the sadhus and karsevaks marched towards the mosque. It was then that Chied Minister Mulayam Singh ordered open fire at the karsevaks. This led to a stampede with the police chasing down the karsevaks all around Ayodhya.
This did not end here as another clash between the police and karsevaks erupted on November 2 when the latter marched their way to the masjid again.
The second time the karsevaks adopted a different tactic in which the women and elderly, who were also a part of the crowd, began touching the feet of the security personnel deployed at the spot. This led them to step back to avoid the feet-touching gesture and it was only after sometime that the police realised that the karsevaks had moved forward by doing so.
When they did not stop even after being warned, the police opened fire at the karsevaks yet again, which was second time in three days.
Many people reportedly lost their lives in the open firing. 17 deaths were reported at that time. However, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, late BJP leader, said there were 56 deaths.
Ram and Sharad- known as Kothari brothers from Kolkata were also among the people who lost their lives. They were last seen holding a saffron flag atop the Babri Masjid and later their bodies were found near the Hanuman Garhi Temple. The Kothari brothers had allegedly been dragged out of a house by the police and killed.