Schoolhouse, playground used for fair

Seating arrangements covered by a large canopy occupy the playground of Dhukurjhari High School in Biral upazila under Dinajpur district as unscrupulous people are organising obscene dances and gambling in the name of a month-long fair there. PHOTO: STAR

Classes at Dhukurjhari High School and the adjoining primary school in Biral upazila under the district is badly hampered as a month-long fair occupying the playground and a building started on April 5.
The noise from loudspeakers, especially at night, has become a nuisance for locals.
The area sees a yearly animal trade fair styled Dhukurjhari Poshu Mela for the last 65 years but this year the organisers have arranged gambling and obscene dance there, occupying a large portion of the school ground and also the primary school building, locals said.
Contacted over phone, Dhukurjhari High School managing committee chairman Ichhat Ali Sarker, also president of Dhukurjhari Poshu Mela Committee, said, "The fair is not affecting the study of the students. We help mosques and a temple with the collected money."
Ichhat Ali is also president of Biral upazila unit of Awami League.
Visiting the fair site a couple of days ago, this correspondent found several shops. Not a single animal was seen there.
"This year gambling and obscene dance have been arranged instead of an animal fair. It leaves bad effect in the mind of children. The noise from loud speakers at night also disturbs the study of HSC students in the neighbourhood," said Md Ansar Ali, an elderly resident of the area.
"The fair is badly affecting our classes. Now many female students feel embarrassed to attend school," said a teacher of Dhukurjhari High School, seeking anonymity.
"Our study is badly disturbed due to the fair," said Ariful Islam, a class X student of the school.
Bimal Chandra Das, headmaster of the school, said he rescheduled the classes for the fair at the school compound.
Seeking anonymity, several teachers of the school alleged that the fair was organised without any resolution of the school managing committee.
"I verbally informed Biral upazila Education Officer Md Jufikar Ali of the matter," the headmaster said.
This correspondent failed to contact the official to talk regarding the matter.
Contacted, Dinajpur District Education Officer Enayed Hossain said he is unaware about the fair at Dhukurjhari High School in Biral upazila.