Moulvibazar Pourasabha demolishes 'historic'park
Moulvibazar Pourasabha has demolished a 'historic' children's park here and hung a signboard inscribing 'Restricted Area' on its main gate.
The Pourasabha authorities have set up a flower garden there without showing any valid reason.
Local people have become annoyed at the action of the municipal authorities and are now demanding reinstatement of the park.
Situated at the heart of the district town, the park has a glorious past. Located in front of the century- old Pourasabha office on the Court Road, the children's park was famous for its many historical events. But the municipality authorities wanted to erase the glorious history of the park.
After a season of gardening, the land has been prepared to sow saplings of flowers for the next season.
Dewan Abul Khair Chowdhury, a student leader of the sixties and former commander of the district Muktijodhha Sangsad expressed his concern and said the park was used for holding public meetings of political parties in the past.
Celebrated sons of the soil like the founding father of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Maolana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, Major Jalil, Prof Muzaffar Ahmed, Comrade Moni Singha, Bangabeer General MAG Osmani, Peer Habibur Rahman, Sirajul Alam Khan, ASM Abdur Rab, Nur-e-Alam Siddique, Azam Khan and Fatema Jinnah addressed public meetings here.
Khair said, this was the only place, where political, cultural and social organizations organised their programmes like 'open stage'. Several meetings on our historic Language Movement in 1952 and liberation struggle in late sixties were also held from this park.
Dewan Abdul Wahab Chowdhury, another student leader here in the sixties said the first meeting of the Language Movement was held in this park in February, 1952 with Abdul Aziz Mukter in the chair.
He said the park was the main centre of students' agitation, six-point agitation of 1966, 11-point mass agitation of 1969, and the Liberation War movement in 1970 and 1971.
Torch processions were brought out from here. After liberation of the country, the then municipality authorities had constructed a small Shahid Minar. Besides, a concrete built stage, benches and water tank (known as Jubilee Tank) were also constructed here for convenience of politicians as well as general people. But after 1998, the municipality authorities had removed all these structures from the historic park and set up a flower garden.
Moulvibazar district NAP president and a famous liberation movement organiser Advocate Gajnafar Ali Chaudhury said, 'We have lost the spot where we could express our opinions freely.' The municipality authorities has snatched our basic rights by damaging the park, Gajnafar Ali said.
Sujaul Karim, a freedom fighter and a famous cultural activist in late sixties and early seventies is now living abroad. He came to his hometown after 30 years but found no existence of the historic children's park. He recalled his early life memories and said they had organised cultural events in this park. After liberation of the country, the park was renamed as ' Shahid Mukit Park '. But he lamented saying the municipality authorities have damaged all the historic witnesses in the park. Now it is a 'restricted area' and a flower garden.
Moulvibazar municipality chairman Fayzul Karim Mayun has been removed from his post and is now under trail in a criminal case. Commissioner Ayas Ahmed who is now its acting chairman said to this correspondent the structures of the children's park have been removed for beautification of the spot. Now people enjoy the beauty of the flower garden, he said.
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