SC Mediators To Meet Shaheen Bagh Protesters Again Today

New Delhi: Supreme Court-appointed mediators, senior advocates Vikram Hegde and Sadhna Ramachandran, will visit the protest site at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital on Thursday for a second time, to hold talks with the demonstrators. The Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors had held a dialogue with the demonstrators on Wednesday, seeking to find a resolution to the blocking of the road by the protesters. Former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah also met the protesters, but the talks held by the mediators remained inconclusive.

The mediators told the demonstrators on Wednesday that they were at the protest site to explain to them the substantive part of the Supreme Court order. The SC-appointed interlocutors also read out the apex court order to the protesters. The pointed out that the Supreme Court recognized their right to protest, but it should not convenience to others, in the opinion of the apex court.

The Shaheen Bagh protesters, however, remained adamant on the repeal of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Further, they demanded that the Centre hold talks with them directly. They were also of the opinion that they too were inconvenienced by the protest.

Shaheen Bagh in Delhi has been the epicentre of protests against the CAA with large groups of women staging an indefinite sit-in since December 15. The protest has triggered similar demonstrations elsewhere including Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The Supreme Court, in response to a petition demanding clearance of the arterial road, on Tuesday, appointed senior lawyers, Vikram Hegde and Sadhna Ramachandranto hold talks with the demonstrators.