Green groups vow to continue protest
Intimidations like abduction and case against green activists would not be able to thwart the ongoing movement against the illegal occupation of Dhanmondi playground, said leading environmental activists at a press conference in the capital yesterday.
Some 50 environmentalist groups, including Bangladesh Poribesh Abndolon (Bapa), Bangladesh Environmentalist Lawyers Association (Bela) and Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB), organised the press conference at Dhanmondi to protest the occupation of the playground by Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.
On Friday, Arifur Rahman, general secretary of the club, filed a case with Dhanmondi Police Station accusing former president of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) Mobassher Hossain, Joint Secretary of Bapa Iqbal Habib, architect Salma A Shafi, Kamrunnahar Dana, general secretary of Bangladesh Women's Sports Association, and some unnamed others of entering the playground and vandalism on the "private property". The case was filed a few hours after some green activists staged demonstrations protesting the illegal occupation.
Interestingly, Dana was not even at the venue during the demonstrations as she was ill at home.
Speaking at the press conference, eminent civil engineer and environmental activist Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury said, “Dhanmondi playground is a public property by any definition and it must remain so”.
Bangabandhu Memorial Trust may have endorsed tagging the name of the prime minister's slain brother Sheikh Jamal with the club but it certainly did not endorse the club's illegal occupancy of the public playground, he said.
The club, formerly known as Dhanmondi Club and renamed in 2009, has been at the playground for around five decades without any authorisation. And last year, they barred public access to the playground, making it open only to club members.
Deploying security personnel to bar public access to a public playground is unprecedented, said noted urban researcher Prof Nazrul Islam.
Founder of Gonoswasthya Kendra Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, who has been living in Dhanmondi since 1948, said that he used to play at the ground in his childhood.
In a written statement, Iqbal Habib said Dhaka South City Corporation and the public works ministry have been ignoring High Court orders since 2004 to free the playground of illegal occupancy and ensure public access there.
Eminent jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik and former national cricketer Gazi Ashraf Lipu, among others, were present at the press conference.
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