Shopkeepers in Ayodhya approach Ram Lalla against demolition

The shops will be demolished for the proposed widening of roads, they say

 

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS  R The traders and shopkeepers of Ayodhya have petitioned Ram Lalla to ask for their shops to not be demolishd for the proposed widening of roads that lead to the Ram Mandir.

Nand Kumar Gupta, the president of the traders’ union, said, “We have written to the state government and the local administration but received no response. Our last resort is to seek help from Ram Lalla”. Gupta said that the administration had drawn up no plans to rehabilitate the uprooted shoppers, whose numbers will be in excess of 800.

On Thursday evening, traders from 12 local markets, marched to the Ram Janmabhoomi to hand over their petition to the priest for placing it at the feet of the deity.

“Shri Ram is the king of Ayodhya. There is no government above him”, said Gupta.

Earlier, on July 16, shops had been shut from 12 pm to 2 pm to protest against the four-lane project which will make a visit to the Janmabhoomi easier. For now, no vehicles, except VIP ones, are allowed on the final stretch of the narrow, winding road that leads up to the Janmabhoomi.