SC appointed mediators ask media to leave Shaheen Bagh

New Delhi: Media covering dialogue between the Supreme Court appointed interlocutors and Shaheen Bagh protesters was told to leave protest site on Wednesday after the interlocutors refused to speak in front of them.

The decision came after a brief argument between the interlocutors and protesters over the presence of media during the dialogue, as protesters weighed in on having conversation in presence of the media.

"Jo baat hogi sabke saamne hogi" (Talks will take place in front of everyone), women protesters at Shaheen Bagh shouted as senior lawyer Sadhna Ramachandran announced that interaction will not start before video recordings were stopped.

Addressing the protesters, senior lawyer said, "If you (protesters) want to talk before media, you can speak. But we will not speak." Ramachandran said.

"We have 4 days to talk, after that we will have other ways for dialogue," Ramachandran added.

The senior lawyer had maintained since the start of her address that media should not be allowed inside the protest site during the talks.

While protesters wanted media to stay and record the dialogues, however, eventually it was decided that media will have to leave the protest site and the protesters will provide minutes of the interaction with Interlocutors to the media after the meeting.