Protesters at Shaheen Bagh on Saturday evening lifted barricades placed by Delhi police on a road that connects Noida and Okhla.

The barricades were put in place by the police to divert traffic away from GD Birla Marg, the site of the vigil.

The police tried to intervene but did not confront the protesters on the west bank of the Yamuna. On the eastern side, Uttar Pradesh police continue to block the movement of vehicles towards Delhi on the Okhla Barrage Road.

On Friday, the interlocutors sent by the Supreme Court, Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran, had described the police’s continued diversion of traffic as “extremely distressing”.

Delhi police did not comment on Saturday’s developments but continued to discourage traffic on the route to and from Noida, citing the possibility of a gridlock.

In the morning, Ramachandran visited the site with former Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed. Women protesters, including the grandmothers who are the most prominent faces of the vigil, laid down conditions for vacating one side of the road for traffic.

The conditions include a court order for police deployment and a cover of aluminium sheets around the protest tent to protect them from gunfire or brickbats, withdrawal of cases against the youths accused of rioting in December and action against BJP politicians and ministers who had made incendiary remarks about the vigil and falsely linked the protesters to terrorism.

Ramachandran reportedly clarified that the interlocutors did not represent the Centre, and merely had the role of discussing solutions to the traffic blockade. “We will tell the Supreme Court that we want in writing that the protesting women should be given protection,” she was quoted as saying.

Many protesters continued to stick to the demand for first repealing the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“Remove the law and the road will open immediately. If the law stays, then the road will not be opened,” 82-year-old Bilkis Bano said.

Hameed told The Telegraph that the day was spent mainly listening to the protesters and nothing could be finalised as of now. But she saw hope in the protesters’ willingness to remove the barricades.

GD Birla Marg, on which the protesters control the barricades, is still out of bounds for commuters. Several structures and symbols on the route, set up during the vigil, have to be cleared before it can be opened.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case on Monday. It is not clear whether the interlocutors will visit the site on Sunday before they report back to the court.

Metro station protest

Around 500 women gathered near Jaffrabad Metro station in Delhi on Saturday night in protest against the new citizenship matrix.

The women, raising slogans of azadi, said they would not leave the site till the Centre revokes the Citizenship Amendment Act. They have blocked a road that connects Seelampur to Maujpur and Yamuna Vihar. PTI