New Delhi: Protesters at the Shaheen Bagh in South Delhi on Saturday on the 70th day of their demonstrations opened the passage from Jamia in Delhi to Noida in Uttar Pradesh after the top court-appointed mediators assured to take up their demand against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and related issues before the Supreme Court on Monday.
They told the mediators, persuading them for the past four days, that they had not blocked the traffic as they were sitting on one side of the road divider on the left side of the road but it was the police that had blocked the right side claiming security reasons.
Mediator Advocate Sadhana Ramachandran, who came alone on the site on Saturday, told the gathering that she had gone to other roads leading to Noida and as such she agrees with them that many other roads that can be used for traffic were blocked by Police.
A Delhi Police officer present on the site tried to explain to her that other roads where no protests were going on were closed because the UP Police of Noida had barricaded the entry from Delhi side. The agitators sought from the mediators on Friday that the other side of the road can be used for traffic but they should be assured security to ensure there is no attack on them from across the road divider.
Ramachandran went away after an hour, assuring the agitators that the Shaheen Bagh protest is intact and it will remain so as she said she will tell the Supreme Court on Monday that the protest did not block the traffic to Noida as alleged by police and petitioners but it were the Police who failed in its responsibility to ensure smooth traffic.
There was, however, some confusion as one group of the agitators opened what is known as the Okhla road, while another group again blocked the road across the road divider by persuading police to reinstall the barricades to prevent any untoward incident.
The group who got the other side of the road opened opted not to oppose the police again putting up the barricades as it did not show any kind of divide among the agitators by fighting among themselves. Let us wait till Monday to see the Supreme Court decision, it was announced on the Loudspeaker.
The crowd at Shaheen Bagh thinned down but there were still around 400 spread spread over the site. Those in the forefront said their “dharna” would continue and they would wait for what decision the Apex Court takes on Monday.
Last Monday, the Supreme Court had appointed a team of 3-members, namely senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, senior advocate Ramachandran and former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah. Hegde did not turn up on Saturday but otherwise he was coming to the venue from Wednesday to Friday along with Ramachandran and spending over an hour discussing with the agitators. Habibullah chose not to join them, but he also visited the site on two days separately and received applause from the agitators for taking up their cause in the Supreme Court. He is one of the petitioners before the Court.
