Shaheen Bagh Protesters Open One Side Of Noida-Kalindi Kunj Road After Two Months

Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), broke into jubilation on Saturday after protesters decided to open one side of the Noida-Kalindi Kunj road after two months of impasse. The significant development comes hours after Supreme Court-appointed interlocutor Sadhana Ramachandran held a meeting with a delegation of Shaheen Bagh women protestors on Saturday, the fourth day of the mediation talks.

Ramachandran arrived at the site alone in the morning and met only a delegation of women protestors. 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.

On Friday, the Shaheen Bagh protesters told the Supreme Court-appointed interlocutors that if the road parallel to the anti-CAA protest site was opened, the apex court should pass an order ensuring their security.

Also Read | Shaheen Bagh Protesters Set 7 Conditions To Supreme Court-Appointed Interlocutors On Day 4 Of Mediation Talks

Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran inspected the roads and observed that they were barricaded by the police for “no apparent reasonâ€Â and emphasised that the action of re-barricading the roads “defeats the very purpose of confidence-building on the part of the policeâ€Â.

Restrictions on the Kalindi Kunj road between Noida and Delhi continued on Friday after it was briefly opened by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday night, officials said.

The Delhi Police admitted that the protesters had not blocked the parallel road, but they had barricaded it to provide security to the protest site. 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.

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Only emergency vehicles like ambulances and school buses are being allowed to pass through the stretch, the police said. The protesters told the interlocutors that the police barricaded the road parallel to their tent, besides two other roads that connect to the Shaheen Bagh-Kalindi Kunj road. The interlocutors called the police to the spot to discuss the matter with the protesters.

A police official told the interlocutors that the parallel road as well as certain other roads were kept barricaded to give protection to the protest site.

(With PTI inputs)