Delhi Meat Merchant Association general secretary Irshad Qureshi on Saturday appealed to all traders selling meat and fish to close their shops here on January 22 in honour of the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

All slaughter houses in Delhi along with the shops selling meat and fish have been asked to keep their businesses closed for the day respecting the sentiments of the people for the "pran pratishtha" ceremony in Ayodhya.

The motive behind the appeal is to promote unity and harmony between the two communities and bring people together, Qureshi told PTI.

"We have made an appeal to all slaughter houses and meat and fish sellers to close their shops on January 22 to show respect to the celebration of our Hindu brothers and sisters on the occasion of Ram temple inauguration," Qureshi said.

Shutting the business for a day would not impact the traders as much, he added stating that sentiments of both the communities should be respected.

Many restaurants in Delhi's Connaught Place have also announced not to serve non-veg to the customers on January 22.

New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA) joint secretary Amit Gupta said that many restaurants in Connaught Place have pledged to serve vegetarian food on the day of the "pran pratishtha" ceremony in Ayodhya.

The "pran pratishtha" ceremony in Ayodhya will take place on January 22 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will be attended by many VVIPs.

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