Shaheen Bagh protesters told the Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors on Friday that if the road parallel to the protest site was opened, the apex court should pass an order ensuring their security.
“When several adjoining roads are open, why are they insisting that we move from this road? This is not the only road connecting Delhi to Noida,” a woman protester told senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran on the third day of discussions. “We keep hearing about the inconvenience to people but no one asks about our inconvenience here,” said another protester.
The interlocutors called the police to the spot to discuss the matter with the protesters. The police admitted that the protesters hadn’t blocked the parallel road. An officer told the interlocutors and protesters that they had barricaded the parallel road as well as certain other roads adjoining the area as a security measure for the Shaheen Bagh protest site. “If the road is opened for commuters, we will ensure double security to protesters,” the police officer said.
A woman protester told the mediators, “If the police could not stop the men who fired at us, how are they claiming that they will protect us if the parallel road is opened?”
Another woman protester said, “We want in writing that if there is a single incident of attack or firing, the police officers, from the SHO to the Police Commissioner, should be shunted out.”
(With inputs from PTI)
