Noida-Faridabad road, closed due to Shaheen Bagh protest, reopens briefly
An important road near Delhi, that was off-limits for commuters for the last 69 days, was opened for a brief period on Friday, reportedly due to Mahashivratri. The Noida-Faridabad road has been closed due to the Shaheen Bagh protest. Earlier, Supreme Court appointed two mediators to talk to the protesters and convince them to shift to some other place. Here are more details.
The new law on citizenship sparked outrage across India
In December, the Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) making it easier for persecuted non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to get Indian citizenship. While Northeastern states feared this law would open floodgates for immigrants, the critics across the nation said the law is bigoted as it excluded Muslims. Despite protests, Centre said it would not "move an inch".
Shaheen Bagh came to define the anger against CAA
While protests happened everywhere, the one at Shaheen Bagh, a small pocket in Delhi, garnered the maximum attention. Primarily started by women, the agitation has been going on for weeks now. Defying Delhi's chill, women sat on streets demanding a rollback. Last month, a four-month-old baby lost his life due to a fatal cold as he accompanied his mother to the site every night.
SC said indefinite protest can't happen on public road
The agitation caused inconvenience to commuters, prompting two petitioners, including a BJP leader, to approach SC. The top court noted that a protest of such nature can't continue on a public road, indefinitely. It then appointed mediators, Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran, for negotiation. They went to the site twice and reminded protesters of the rights of other people.
Lawyers told protesters why road block issue should be solved
Yesterday, the senior lawyers told protesters that SC would listen to them earnestly if the road issue is solved. "When the larger issue comes to court, SC will listen to us even more keenly. Understand the delicateness of the situation," they said. The mediators also asked who all trust the top court and the unanimous response was "All of us".
Protesters argued no one spoke about inconvenience earlier
However, when the mediators said they should shift to another place, pat came the reply "Nahi ho sakta (It can't happen)." Citing the example of Anna Hazare protest, they argued that when such incidents happened in the past no one complained about inconvenience. "This area is just 150 meters long. UP and Delhi Police have shut the routes that could be opened," a woman said.
Round 2 of talks also didn't yield results
Hoping to convince the protesters, the lawyers then said, "Nobody should be troubled. We live in this country to help one another and not trouble each other. The movement will be an example for everyone." But the conversations didn't yield any results.
Not only protesters, Hegde gave suggestions to Delhi Police too
Last evening, Hegde said protesters were urged to come up with "creative solutions" for the traffic problem. "We are happy that Delhi Police have co-operated with our suggestions and usage of some roads may soon be restored especially for commuters going towards Faridabad," he added. But after a small relief, barricades went up again on the road, taking things to square one.
