Road opened in Shaheen Bagh, but blocked again

A road in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, which has been blocked for over two months due to the sit-in demonstrations against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, was “opened” by a group of demonstrators on Thursday (February 22), but was immediately closed again, police said.

“Road number 9 in Shaheen Bagh was reopened by a group of protesters, but later it was closed by another group,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) RP Meena said.

Protesters claimed they “opened” the stretch, which would allow passage to commuters between Noida and South Delhi, around 5 pm near the protest site, but the Delhi police and the Noida police were continuing to barricade it from one side.

The road, which connects Noida to south east Delhi and further to Faridabad in Haryana, was closed for traffic in the wake of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protest at Shaheen Bagh since December 15.

#WATCH Delhi: Celebrations underway as protestors open Noida-Kalindi Kunj Road via Road No. 9 (Okhla road) #ShaheenBaghProtests pic.twitter.com/UIqL4ms6a5

— ANI (@ANI) February 22, 2020

The development came after three days of talks between Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors — senior advocates Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran — and the protesters over the issue of difficulty to commuters due to blocking of roads.

According to police, the protesters briefly opened a small portion of a road leading to Kalindi Kunj so that locals can pass through it with their two wheelers. The Noida Traffic Police, however, also continued the restrictions on the Uttar Pradesh side of the road, an official told PTI.

“It was being alleged repeatedly that the protesters have blocked the Kalindi Kunj road, which leads to Noida Sector 37. So, today it was decided that this allegation has to be done away with and the route was opened,” said Sonu Warsi, a protestor.

“The decision was also taken to give a gift to the Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors, whose interaction and mediation has helped reopen the case. We have opened the road and it is now up to the Delhi Police and UP police to decide which vehicles they will allow,” he added.

Related news: This is not the only road connecting Delhi-Noida: Shaheen Bagh protesters

After the talks on Friday, Hegde had said the protesters, in principle, were not fundamentally against opening of the non-protest side of the road if their security could be guaranteed in writing by the Delhi Police under suitable orders of the apex court.

“We will not be holding a public interaction tomorrow to enable the protesters to come to an independent conclusion as to the way forward. We will return on Sunday only if we deem it necessary and feasible to do so,” he had said.

Shaheen Bagh has been the epicentre of anti-CAA protests in the city where hundreds of women have been holding a sit-in demonstration since the December 15 police action on protesters in neighbouring Jamia Millia Islamia.

The amended citizenship law seeks to fast-track the process of granting citizenship to six non-Muslim communities escaping religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Critics have termed the new law as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

(With inputs from agencies)