Shaheen Bagh: CAA protesters want metal wall for safety

NEW DELHI: Having earlier told the interlocutors appointed by the Supreme Court that it was police, and not them, who had blocked one carriageway at Shaheen Bagh, anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters on Saturday told senior lawyer Sadhana Ramachandran, one of the mediators, that the apex court should ensure their safety in case that carriageway was opened to traffic. This was among some demands that the protesters made in their interaction with the mediator on Saturday.
When Ramachandran visited the agitation site, where mostly women protesters have occupied the road and closed it to traffic for the past 69 days, she assured the women that the dialogue was not to have to the sit-in dispersed, but to resolve the issue of the blockaded GD Birla Road.

The protesters declared to the interlocutor that if the carriageway opposite to the stretch occupied by them was reopened for traffic, they would need a Supreme Court order on their security. They said aluminium sheets should then be placed between that section of the road and the protest site to provide safety to the demonstrators. The carriageway in question carries traffic from Noida to Delhi.
The second demand of the protesters was the revocation of the cases registered against anti-CAA agitationists at both at Jamia Millia Islamia and Shaheen Bagh. The protesters also asked for an inquiry into the incidents that have taken place in the last two months during the protests at these sites.
The protesters, however, were firm that they wouldn’t move away from the present sit-in spot.
On Friday evening, the mediators — Ramachandran and lawyer Sanjay Hegde — had taken note of the road from Noida opening briefly in the morning, and suggested to the protesters that the route could be opened to traffic. The duo said that the Supreme Court had to informed that the road and opened and shut again and whoever had done it was answerable to the court.
At one point, the two lawyers told the crowd, “Who has occupied the other carriageway? We need clarity from you.” The unanimous response was that it was the cops who had barricaded that carriageway. Ramachandran probed further and when she asked, “Are you saying that you are sitting here and the other side has been shut by Delhi Police and you are okay with it as you feel you feel safe that way?”, a protester responded, “Delhi Police has closed the other side of the road.”
Hegde wanted to know if anyone from the police was at the site. The SHO of Shaheen Bagh police station stepped forward and assured that police were willing to provide the protesters adequate security if they cooperated. He disclosed that this request had been made earlier too. “Hamari taraf se jo security hai woh poori denge (We will provide adequate security),” he asserted.
In one voice, the crowd had asked police to give in writing that they would keep their promise, and in case of an untoward incident, everyone from the police commissioner to the beat constable would face the consequences. But many still expressed distrust of the police force. “Delhi Police beat up Jamia students and one of them lost an eye. Female students were marched out of the campus with their hands raised in the air while being verbally abused,” said a cynical woman.