Shaheen Bagh negotiations inconclusive on Day 1, protesters blame Delhi Police for blocking road

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SC-appointed interlocutors' first meeting with Shaheen Bagh protesters remained inconclusive.

The interlocutors appointed by the Supreme Court to resolve the Shaheen Bagh crisis met the protesters on February 19, but the meeting remained inconclusive.

Advocates Sanjay Hegde, Sadhana Ramachandran and former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah went to Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), to speak to the protesters and attempt to find a way out of the impasse. It was the first attempt to reach out to the protesters who are sitting in protest against the CAA for more than two months.

The interlocutors, who talked for almost three hours, could not reach any conclusion on the first day. But, they told protesters they would come again on February 20 for dialogue.

On February 17, the Supreme Court observed that the blockade of the road at Shaheen Bagh was "troubling" and suggested the protesters should go to another site where no public place would be blocked. It, however, upheld their right to protest.

The apex court also asked Hegde to "play a constructive role as an interlocutor" to persuade the protesters to move to an alternative site. It said the interlocutors could seek Habibullah's assistance.

The sit-in, which has been going on since December 16, has blocked a critical arterial road connecting Delhi and Noida, causing trouble to commuters and schoolchildren.

In the meeting on February 19, the women, young and old, tried to explain their point of view to the interlocutors.

Bilkis, one of the feisty 'dadis' who had been demonstrating against the CAA since it began, declared they would not move an inch even if someone fired a gun.

The 82-year-old woman said the main tent, where the podium had been erected, covered only 100 to 150 metres of the road.

"We have not blocked the whole stretch. It is Delhi Police which barricaded the whole road in the name of security. Why don't you get that removed first? We never asked the police or any authority to block the roads for us. It is they who did it and are now blaming us for the blockade," she argued.

A defiant Bilkis said they will not move until the CAA is repealed.

Another woman broke down while talking to the mediators.

She said they were protesting to save the Constitution, but people saw only the inconvenience of commuters who had the option of taking so many other roads.

The allegations that they are not letting ambulances pass and vehicles pass are baseless, she said.

The protest site witnessed firing earlier in February, triggering panic.