NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court-appointed mediators on Shaheen Bagh told the protesters on Thursday how the issue of the road blockade is resolved may have a bearing on how SC considers the “larger issue” ( CAA ), including how other such protests are seen.Addressing the protesters, lawyer Sanjay Hegde said, "Bada masla aayega toh hamari baat aur achhe se sunegi SC. Ye waqt ki nazukta samjhiye (When the larger issue comes to court, SC will listen to us even more keenly. Understand the delicateness of the situation).”At the end of the day, there was no breakthrough and the mediators will return to the site on Friday.The two mediators — Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran — kept stressing that the isssue on which they were asked to engage in a dialogue was about the inconvenience being caused to commuters due to the road blockade and not the citizenship law. When the mediators asked the crowd, “Who all trust SC?”, the unanimous response was: “All of us.” But when the senior lawyers suggested that they could move to an alternative site, the crowd cried, “Nahi ho sakta (It can’t happen).”The suggestion of an alternative site was countered by the women with the argument that when the JP movement or the Mandal or Anna protests took place, no one had expressed any outrage over inconvenience being caused. “It's been made to look like a Muslim andolan. This area is just 150 metres long. UP police and Delhi Police have shut the routes that could be opened,” one of them said.The protesters claimed they were not the ones blocking the road and that the alternative routes could ease the situation. Responding to this, the interlocutors took the help of some locals to inspect three alternative routes — Mahamaya, Supernova and Kalindi — that the protesters said had been blocked by the police.The mediators told the crowd that “Shaheen Bagh barkarar rahega” (Shaheen Bagh will survive) but it was necessary to ensure that others were not inconvenienced. “Nobody should be troubled. We live in this country to help one another and not trouble each other. The movement will be an example for everyone. The protest should go on but its venue could be a place where people are not troubled,” they said. “If people in Noida say that we'll sit on DND or elsewhere, then it's not good for anyone."On the second day of the dialogue, the crowd swelled. At one point, Ramachandran observed that the chaos at the site had made the atmosphere “inconducive”. She said, “We won’t come tomorrow if this persists.” An apology followed the remark and the dialogue continued. Half an hour into the interaction, the mediators objected to TV channels “meddling” with the dialogue process. On their suggestion, these mediapersons were asked to vacate the venue and the women applauded the move.One of the protesting women agreed with the idea of a census but not CAA and NRC which, according to them, discriminated against a particular community. “We are ready for a census. It should happen. You know and we also know that we are Indians. Lal Qila, Jama Masjid and Qutub Minar are examples of our existence,” said the woman.The mediators stressed that the mothers and daughters of the country were actually “Bharat Mata...The nation progresses only when they’re happy". A woman interjected with: “The problem is that you are saying it but our PM doesn't say it. We are ready to hug him. He's our PM. He should come.”Hegde observed that India had seen several prime ministers in the past 70 years. “Whoever assumes office is entrusted with responsibility. They're sometimes right, sometimes wrong. We can't say that a PM can never be wrong. If we feel there is an issue, we have the right to raise it. That's why the SC is there. Whenever SC speaks, everybody listens,” said Hegde.Some of the women expressed anxiety over the government taking up issues like triple talaq but not lending an ear though they had been on the road for so long. “The moment they take away the law, we'll leave,” said one of the women.The protesters pointed out that even during BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani ’s rathyatra, there were traffic jams. “That happened during the Jat agitation too. We are protesting peacefully without trouble. Shaheen Bagh is our identity. If we move from here, we'll lose our identity. We are fighting for our existence. We are also citizens of this country,” the mediators were told.The lawyers tried to assure the protesters that the matter of citizenship law will be argued by taking into account people’s rights. “When the hearing on this law takes place, lawyers from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian communities will argue with all their might. But before that happens, the stand that “we'll keep sitting here” needs to change. “It was very easy for SC to direct the government but the judge also considered the current situation...They've also reached out to you but there has to be some reciprocation,” they said.“On the day that some people threatened to vacate us, thousands of people turned up here to protect us. They had no religion. But we have been labelled as a Muslim crowd. We are more than that. We are fighting for our country,” said Shaheen Kauser A single father, Imran, who had reached the site with his two daughters broke down, citing the fear of detention centres. “My youngest daughter is in Class I but she also knows what NRC means. The fear is extremely real for all of us,” he said.“Why is road closure a bigger issue than the future of thousands of citizens of this country?” asked another protester, Shabnam. “Shouldn’t our judges listen to our concerns and ask the government to assure us that NRC and NPR won’t be implemented?”“Shaheen Bagh has become our identity now. It’s the mother of all the protests. We can’t just give up and leave,” said another protester.