Kolkata, Aug 4 (PTI) Family members of city kar sevaks who had died in police firing at the Ram Janmabhoomi site 30 years ago, said bhoomi pujan at Ayodhya for the temple on Wednesday would be the most momentous occasion of their lives as the sacrifice made by their kin have yielded result after three long decades.

Two brothers- Ram Kothari(22) and Sharad Kothari(20) were killed in police firing during kar seva at the Ram Janmabhoomi site at Ayodhya in 1990.

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According to family members, the two brothers regularly visited the RSS shakha near their residence at Burrabazar in central Kolkata. They had gone to Ayodhya responding to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's call for kar seva and fell to police bullets.

Their elder sister Poornima is in Ayodhya now to witness the bhoomi pujan ceremony at Ayodhya.

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"Our entire family is very happy. We waited for 30 long years for justice. My brothers who died fighting for Ram Mandir will now rest in peace. Its the biggest occasion of our lives," she told a TV news channel.

After the verdict came last year, we had decided that whenever the construction of Ram Mandir begins at the holy site, we will visit Ayodhya to pay homage to our brothers and all those kar sevaks who lost their lives. That is why we are here today, she said.

The August 5 ceremony will mark the beginning of the construction of Ram temple after a decades-long title suit over the site at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh was settled by Supreme Court in November 2019. PTI PNT KK KK 08042143 NNNN topic for years, said he supported the review.

Protests against the name predate Snyder buying the team in 1999, and, until now, he had shown no willingness to consider a change. Strong words from sponsors — including a company run by a minority stakeholder of the team — changed the equation.

FedEx earlier this month became the first sponsor to announce it had asked the organization to change the name, particularly important because CEO Frederick Smith owns part of the team. FedEx paid $205 million for the long-term naming rights to the team's stadium in Landover, Maryland.

The lease at FedEx Field expires in 2027, and dropping the name keeps open various possibilities in Maryland, Virginia and Washington for the team's new stadium and headquarters. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has said the name was an “obstacle” to Snyder building on the old RFK Stadium site, which is believed to be his preference.

The team recently started cutting ties with racist founder George Preston Marshall, removing his name from the Ring of Fame and renaming the lower bowl at FedEx Field for the team's first Black player, late Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell. Marshall, who renamed the Boston Braves the Redskins in 1933 and moved the team to D.C. four years later, was a segregationist and the last NFL owner to integrate his team.

The current logo shows the profile of a red-faced Native American with feathers in his hair.

Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves and the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks have said they have no inclination to change their names. Some advocates would like to see all Native American names, mascots and imagery out of sports.

Long removed from the glory days of winning Super Bowl titles in the 1982, 1987 and 1991 seasons under coach Joe Gibbs, Washington's NFL team has just five playoff appearances in 21 years and no postseason victories since 2005. The team has lacked a nationally marketable player since Robert Griffin III's short-lived stardom, and the 2020 schedule features zero prime-time games for a franchise that used to be a draw.

Re-branding with a new name and logo — and perhaps the same burgundy and gold colors — coupled with turning football operations over to Rivera could be a boon for Snyder on and off the field. Even if a segment of the fan base opposes the change in the name of tradition, winning would more than make up for those losses. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)