Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors – advocate Sanjay Hedge and Sadhana Ramachandran – are racing against time to persuade the protesters in Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi to clear the road to allow the movement of traffic. Hegde and Ramachandran on Thursday visited the protest site where people have been on a sit-in since 68 days against the Citizenship Amendment Act, NPR and rumoured NRC.
According to a report in India Today, interlocutors will again visit Shaheen bagh to continue their efforts. They will talk to women protesters in the absence of men and media. Also, it said that the third round of talks will take place at a different location.
Speaking to reporters after the second-day visit on Thursday, Hegde said that talks are moving in the right direction and exuded confidence that it will yield a fruitful result. Hegde said that Delhi Police officials have heeded to their request to open other roads to allow the movement of vehicles.
Hegde said that he and Ramachandran will continue to meet the people in Shaheen Bagh and listen to their version.
“We urged protestors to come up with creative solutions to the traffic situation, while simultaneously protecting their right to protest,” he told ANI.
“We are happy that Delhi Police has cooperated with our suggestions and the usage of some roads may soon be restored, especially for commuters going towards Faridabad. We will continue to meet the protestors, hopefully in a more organised manner,” Hegde added.
On Thursday, Hedge and Ramachandran initially said that they were not willing to hold talks in the presence of media. The protestors, however, said that they want to represent their issues before the media. After talks failed on Thursday, the interlocutors inspected the blockade and suggested routes could be opened for vehicular movement.
On Monday, the Supreme Court appointed Hegde and Ramachandran as interlocutors to convince the protesters to move to a different location as the blockade of the road at Shaheen Bagh was troubling others.