Supreme Court interlocutors Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran on Tuesday issued a statement urging both the authorities and the Shaheen Bagh protesters to not do anything that may exacerbate the situation at a time when the nation is focusing its resources to fight the Coronavirus scare.
The statement was issued after the authorities cleared the Shaheen Bagh protest site.
“We request everyone to see the issue not as a question of win or lose. The country has a grave pandemic threatening it and currently that must receive priority in terms of everyone's attention. We request the administration and the protesters to now not do anything that will exacerbate the the underlying tensions that culminated in the street protests,” the statement said.
Prior to the Coronavirus scare, both the senior lawyers were appointed by the apex court to talk to the protesters to convince them to clear the protest site and move to an alternative area that would not hamper public movement and traffic flow.
The interlocutors had filed two reports in the court, detailing their efforts and the then prevailing situation.
“Our process of interlocution has reinforced many valuable lessons, including the need for continued dialogue at all times. We believe that the Supreme Court mandated interlocution kept Shaheen Bagh protests peaceful even while violence erupted in other parts of Delhi. Some rigours of the blockade were relaxed by the protesters clearing some peripheral roads. Today the few remaining Shaheen Bagh protestors have been finally dispersed peacefully with minimal force,” the statement said.
