Published 09:05 IST, March 4th 2020
Interlocutors resume dialogue with Shaheen Bagh protesters, stress on 'positive solution'
After meeting the Shaheen Bagh protesters, interlocutors Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran issued a formal statement discussing the future course of action.
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After meeting the Shaheen Bagh protesters on Tuesday, March 3, Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran issued a formal statement discussing the future course of action. Mentioning that the SC had directed them to resume the dialogue, the interlocutors stated that this was the second phase of interactions.
Lauding the peace maintained at the site in the backdrop of the Delhi riots, they urged the protesters to discuss possible solutions among themselves and inform them.
Hegde and Ramachandran stressed that they were not going to impose any decision on them. Instead, they expressed hope that the protesters would embrace positive solutions for the best interest of the country. Moreover, the interlocutors conveyed their willingness to meet once the protesters were ready with a possible resolution of the current situation. Earlier, thy submitted their mediation report in a sealed cover to the SC.
Read the full statement of the SC-appointed interlocutors here:
“In accordance with the orders of the Supreme Court, which has directed us to resume our dialogue with the protesters at Shaheen Bagh, we went to the site of the protests, today i.e. 3rd of March 2020. We expressed our appreciation to the protesters of their maintenance of peace at the protest site, despite the violence that has recently rocked other parts of Delhi. We informed the protesters that having submitted our report to the Supreme Court earlier, we were now entering the second phase of our interactions with them.
We communicated to them that in this second phase we expected them to discuss possible solutions amongst themselves and then inform us. In this regard, we urged them to understand their role as responsible citizens under the Indian constitution and find solutions keeping in mind other fellow citizens.
We said that we interlocutors were not going to impose any decision on them, but rather expected solutions to emerge from their side. With the oncoming festival of Holi, we requested them to embrace positive solutions for the best interest of the country and the constitution.
We urged them to keep in mind the future of children in Shaheen Bagh and all the other children of our country, for whose better future, we citizens are collectively working. We told the protesters that we will be available to them whenever they are collectively ready with any possible resolution of the current situation.”
09:05 IST, March 4th 2020