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What SC mediators told protesters at Shaheen bagh

Advocate Sanjay Hegde said that he is hoping to reach a resolution with everyone\'s co-operation

New Delhi: Senior advocates Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran, mediators appointed by the Supreme Court to engage with the anti-CAA protestors for shifting the venue from Shaheen Bagh, on Wednesday reached the spot.

Advocate Sanjay Hegde said that he is hoping to reach a resolution with everyone's co-operation.

"We have come here according to the order of the Supreme Court. We hope to speak to everyone. We hope to resolve the matter with everybody's co-operation," Hegde told reporters.

Wajahat Habibullah, a former bureaucrat who was also appointed by the Supreme Court to engage with the protestors, today said that he will meet the other interlocutors.

"I am going to meet SC appointed interlocutors today. We will discuss in detail about what to do and how to do it. The main issue is that people should not suffer due to the protest in Shaheen Bagh," Habibullah said.

'Respect other citizen's right too'

“The Supreme Court has upheld your right to protest. But then other citizens also have their rights and it should also be maintained,” Ramachandran told the crowd assembled at the spot in large numbers.

“We want to together find a solution to the problem. We will listen to everyone,” she said in Hindi.

Earlier, Hegde explained the Supreme Court order to the protesters. This was translated into Hindi by Ramachandran.

The protesters have been on a sit-in against the new citizenship law for over two months.

Shaheen Bagh in Chennai

The Supreme Court had on Monday appointed senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde and Sadhna Ramachandran and former chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah to go and talk to protesters at Shaheen Bagh area to convince them to hold the agitation at an alternative site.

The apex court has fixed the matter for further hearing on February 24.
The Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi had lately gained nationwide attention due to a continued anti-CAA sit-in by people, especially Muslim women against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register and National Register of Citizens.

The PIL, filed by Nand Kishore Garg and Amit Sahni through their lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi earlier last week, sought appropriate directions to the Centre and others for removal of protestors from Shaheen Bagh near Kalindi Kunj.

It stated that people in Shaheen Bagh are illegally protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, by blocking the common and public road connecting Delhi to Noida.

The petition seeks appropriate direction to the respondents, including the Union of India (UOI) for laying down detailed, comprehensive and exhaustive guidelines relating to outright restrictions for holding protest/agitation leading to obstruction of the public place.

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