New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors visited Shaheen Bagh on Wednesday to initiate talks with the protesters after the court suggested that the agitation should be held in an alternative site where no public place is blocked.
Talking to reporters, the interlocutors, Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran, said they had come to Shaheen Bagh to listen to people who had assembled in large numbers. Before beginning the talks, Hegde read out the order of the Supreme Court.
“We hope to speak to everyone inside and keep everyone briefed. There are no favourites, we hope to resolve the matter inside with everyone's cooperation,” he said.
Ramachandran said that mediation talks with the protesters will be held without the presence of media.
"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 right to use roads, open their shops," she said.
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As per media reports, the two mediators asked the protesting women for a dialogue away from the media. The women, however, want it to take place in presence of the reporters.
The Supreme Court on Monday appointed senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde, Sadhna Ramachandran and former chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah to go and talk to the protesters at Shaheen Bagh about opening up the road that has been blocked and convince them to hold the agitation at an alternative site.
Directing the three to hold talks with the protesters, the top court had said that people have a fundamental right to protest "peacefully and lawfully" but blocking public roads and places is a matter of concern as it might lead to "chaotic situation".
The protesters have been on a sit-in against the new citizenship law for over two months. Restrictions have been imposed on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15 last year due to protests.