SHAHEEN BAGH MEDIATION TALKS INCONCLUSIVE
NEW DELHI: The second round of talks between protesters at Shaheen Bagh and Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors ended inconclusively on Thursday after the demonstrators said they would not leave the protest spot until the Citizenship Amendment Act is repealed.
Two senior lawyers — Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran — visited Shaheen Bagh for the second time on Thursday to hold dialogue with protesters after the Supreme Court ordered to find a “balance” while hearing a PIL on the blockade of Road 13 A that connects Delhi with Noida .
Upon being told by protesters that there were several alternative routes that were blocked by police authorities, the two senior lawyers visited the spots later Thursday evening.
“We urged the protesters to come up with creative solutions to the traffic situation. We are happy that the Delhi police have co-operated with our suggestions and the usage of some roads may soon be restored specially for commuters going towards Faridabad,” Hegde said. They will hold more rounds of talks.
“We don’t want you to leave. But we hope to find a solution where you can also protest and others aren’t inconvenienced by the road blockade,” said senior lawyer Sadhana Ramachandran, while addressing the protesters on Thursday.
“If we don’t find a solution despite our best efforts, the matter will go back to court. Then there will no longer be any other option. The government will do what it has to do. We want women protesters to pay attention to this,” she added.
Protesters, on the other hand, pointed out that there have been several agitations in the past which involved road-blocks.
“From JP movement to Anna andolan or even Mandal agitation, all of these protests saw road blockades. It isn’t just Shaheen Bagh, which is resorting to this mode of protest,” said Shaheen Kausar, a protester.
“Shaheen Bagh is our identity and is the mother of all protests. If the protest is cleared from here, we will lose our identity,” said a female protester. “We will only leave the protest site when the amended CAA is repealed,” said another protester Rita Kaushik.
As multiple demonstrators stepped forward to list their concerns with the controversial citizenship law, the mediators emphasised that they were not there to debate the law itself.
“The questions raised on CAA are before the court and it will address them. We are here for the road blockade and see if a solution can be found while ensuring your right to protest is also secure,” Ramachandran said.