Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors return empty-handed from Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, say will come back on Thursday

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed panel, which reached Delhi's Shaheen Bagh on Wednesday (February 19) to hold talks with anti-CAA protesters to persuade them to shift their agitation to an alternate venue, failed to break the deadlock. After interacting with the protestors at Shaheen Bagh, mediator Sadhana Ramachandran said they will hold talks with the protestors on Thursday also.

Ramachandran told media, "We met them and listened to them. We asked them if they want us to come back tomorrow as it`s not possible to complete the talks in one day. They said they want us to come back tomorrow, so we will." 

Ramachandran told protesters that their right to protest should not affect the right of others to use public road and services while interacting with them at Shaheen Bagh. 

"The Supreme Court has said that you have the right to protest. The law (CAA) has been challenged in the Supreme Court. But like us, others too have their rights, like the right to use roads, open their shops, students reaching their schools. Your right to protest should not affect the right of others to use these services," Ramachandran said.

She told protestors that she will hear them out and together they will find a solution that will set an example for not only the country but for the world, adding "It will tell the world that we think about everyone and not only ourselves." 

Earlier, senior advocate Sanjay Hegde read the Supreme Court order to the protestors. Ahead of the interaction, he told media persons, "We have come here according to the order of the Supreme Court. We hope to speak to everyone. We hope to resolve the matter with everybody`s co-operation." 

On Monday, the Supreme Court had appointed senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran besides former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah to go and talk to protesters at Shaheen Bagh area to convince them to hold the agitation at an alternative site. The top court has fixed the matter for further hearing on February 24.

Thousands of people, including a large number of Muslim women, have been staging a sit-in protest at Delhi`s Shaheen Bagh area since mid-December last year against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The PIL, filed by Nand Kishore Garg and Amit Sahni through their lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi last week, sought appropriate directions to the Centre and others concerned for removal of protestors from Shaheen Bagh near Kalindi Kunj.

The petition said that people in Shaheen Bagh are illegally protesting against the CAA by blocking the common and public road connecting Delhi to Noida.