A Muslim stitches cover for Ram lalla idol

Ayodhya: This time when `Ram baarat' was taken out with fanfare on November 17, it also had Muslims as baaratis. They showered flowers, put up pandals and distributed `prasad' to devotees.
Mohd Irfan said it was not for the first time and also not the only `Hindu' religious event which had Muslims participating.
Ram Vivaah which is held every year in November witnesses huge turnout of devotees.Muslims participations makes it an all-inclusive affair. This time the baraat was taken to Janakpur in Nepal on November 17, Vivaah held on November 27 and then baarat came back on November 30. Since `baraat' procession is taken out every five years, Ram Vivaah became even more significant and it left none in Ayodhya untouched.
“We never shy from participating in `Ram Baarat' held every year in November,” said Mohd Irfan. His `sarva dharma samman seva samiti', a decade old social outfit, meant to create and promote social harmony in Ayodhya has participation of all religions. It has Hindus -- Koustubh Mani Achari, Balkrishna Goswami, Pawan Chaurasiya and Shyam ji Dubey as active a members as Achkan Khan or kashif Sheikh.
“It's not only we who participate in Hindu events but even Hindus participate in our events like Tazia,” he added. The samiti is meant to bridge communal divide in the society. While Mohd Irfan's outfil it about a decade old, it is not rare to find Muslims in Ayodhya selling `puja samagri' at Haridwari bazaar or on the Hanumangarhi road for generations. They are in fact more surprised when a question is put to them.
“It's not about muslims selling `puja ka samaan' but about livelihoood,” said Reshma, four generations of whose family have done the same business. Initially her mother-in-law used to manage the shop but after her death few months back, it is now upto her to manage the house and also assist in running the shop.
There are more than five Muslim families at Haridwari Bazaar who have their shops one-after-the-other in a single row. Roxy, a Muslim tailor in Ayodhya had also stitched the cloth to cover Ramlala's idol to protect it against pigeon droppings. “He also stitched the tripaal (polythene sheet) put up at the temple,” said lawyer Subhash Tripathi, who has been a priest at the temple between 1992 and 2004.
The tailor though has not stitched the clothes for Ramlala, he has stitches for idols in other temples. “Now we don't stitch clothes for gods anymore because payment was always an issue,” said his son Shaan at the shop.