Shaheen Bagh Protest: 2nd Round of Talks Today

The SupremeCourt on Wednesday appointed interlocutors Sanjay Hegde and SadhanaRamachandran who will pay a visit to the protestors at Shaheen Bagh on Thursday,the epicenter of the anti-CAA protests. The interlocutors will visit theprotestors at around 3.30 pm today for the second round of talks.

The twointerlocutors appointed by the top court on Wednesday made their first attemptto reach out to those sitting in protest against the citizenship amendmentlegislation for more than two months.

AdvocatesSanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran as well as former bureaucrat WajahatHabibullah went to Shaheen Bagh on Wednesday to speak to the women and attemptto find a way out of the impasse.

Accordingto sources, the Shaheen Bagh protestors will only clear the protest site afterthe CAA, NRC and NPR were removed.

Visiting theprotest site, Ramachandran said that the Supreme Court has upheld the right toprotest. But other citizens also have their rights and those should bemaintained.

He said, "Wewant to find a solution to the problem together. We will listen to everyone."

Ramachandran,while responding to a concern raised by the women, said that all points will beput forward before the apex court and discussed in detail.

However,he said that a country that has daughters like you can never face any threats,referring to the agitating women adding that "liberty lies in the heartsof the people".

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