Free up Dhanmondi playground

THE tug of war over who will have access to what is essentially a publicly-owned playing field in the heart of Dhanmondi R/A is surprisingly not yet over. Despite the city corporation's intervention after the hue and cry over a sporting club claiming it exclusively as its own, the matter hangs fire. Now senior citizens belonging to civil society have made a call for the intervention of the prime minister in the matter. In this sprawling city of some 16million or so, open playing fields are seldom found in many of the large neighbourhoods. It is not without reason that such blatant and forcible grabbing of these breathing spaces by a sporting club taking the name of Sheikh Jamal has drawn such flak by eminent citizens.
We are duly concerned by the nefarious nature of the way Dhanmondi playing field has been taken over. When environmental activists were harassed by law enforcers for protesting such an act and when the city corporation appeared helpless to act against powerful quarters that are obviously involved in this hostile takeover, what are the common citizens to do? Given the tenacity with which the sporting club is freely taking advantage of the Bangabandhu family member's name, it is now for the prime minister to take a look into the matter and uphold public interest. Perhaps then local residents will breathe a little easier and continue to enjoy the benefits of Dhanmondi playing field.