Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors likely to visit Shaheen Bagh today

NEW DELHI: Mediators appointed by the Supreme Court while hearing a plea against a road blockade, the result of anti-CAA protests at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, are likely to visit the site on Wednesday.

A two-judge bench of the Apex Court comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph on Monday appointed senior advocates Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran to mediate with the demonstrators and persuade them to move the protest elsewhere. The top court also suggested that the advocates seek help from former information commissioner and IAS officer Wajahat Habibullah.

The expected visit on Wednesday is seen as a positive gesture by the protesters who have already made it clear that they are ready to talk to anyone who is appointed by the Apex Court.

"We are quite hopeful by the formation of the team of mediators and are looking forward to the visit," said a protester at Shaheen Bagh.

However, some even perceived that the mediators might be primarily concerned with getting the road blockade at Shaheen bagh cleared than the real issue of the CAA and NRC, the actual cause of the protest.

Those at Shaheen Bagh, however, were somehow divided on the appointment of the interlocutors' visit and the purpose.

"Road is the secondary concern, we are here to protest against the discriminatory CAA and NRC. That's the primary issue. Let's see how things turn up after their visit," said another protester.

The Supreme Court on Monday said while protest against a law is a fundamental right, blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor.

Shaheen Bagh has become an inspiration for several other protest sites across the country. The protesters, mainly women, have been staging a sit-in for more than two months now on the Shaheen Bagh road connecting Delhi with Noida.