"One day we left the playground in the evening after our games ended and the next day in the morning, we found it closed. The entire premises had been sealed and was surrounded by corrugated tin fences."
Mehedi Hasan Jony, a resident of Khilgaon, has been telling the tale of encroachment of the playground.
Talking to thereport.live, he continued:"A group of Ansars came here in 2007 and set up their camp on the playground. They used to distribute commodities among the underprivileged people in the camp. That time, we used to play in the other side of the field. Then suddenly one day, we found the ground surrounded by corrugated tin fences."
From that day, the playground reminded off-limit for the locals. At first, local youth tried to stage protests against the encroachment. But, they came under attack and several youths were sued for staging protest.
One Kamal Ahmed Dilu said:"This playground was known as Pochaar Math. The field was named Sabuj Sangha Math when it turned into a children's park during BNP regime. The Ansars set up their camp one day here and occupied the entire playground. When we started protest to free the field, the law enforcers charged baton on us and later filed cases against many of us."
Ansar-VDP authorities got lease of the ground in 1987. The allotment was cancelled by the public works ministry of the caretaker government of 1996 following protests from the locals. The then government decided to hand it over to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) for maintaining it as a park.
Later the ground was allotted to Sabuj Moti Trust (SMT) on July 12, 2000 for the construction of a health complex. This allotment too was cancelled on November 25, 2004 after the BNP-Jamaat alliance government came to power. The government then issued an order for developing the ground as a park.
Following a writ petition filed by SMT on January 2, 2005, the High Court issued an injunction on the ministry and instructed the Ansar not to make any construction on the designated land till the disposal of the writ petition.
In 2007, Ansar-VDP again occupied the playground once the lease of SMT expired. In 2008, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) chief executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking its directive to free the playground. Responding to the plea, the HC directed the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) to free the field from encroachment within 90 days and maintain it as a children's park. Later, the Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division stayed the HC order responding to a plea filed by the Ansar authorities.
While contacting, Rizwana Hasan said:"The issue is placed to the full bench of the Appellate Division for hearing."
According to DNCC source, the playground still belongs to Khilgaon Gonopurto Division-4 and is yet to hand over to the DNCC authorities.
Contacted, DNCC Chief Executive Officer Md Selim Reza told thereport.live: "We have exchanged letters as per the directives of the High Court. But, the Gonopurto Division is yet to hand it over to us. We can maintain it as a children's park once we get the authority over it."
However, Gonopurto Division Executive Engineer Mahmudur Rahman said: "Our main Master Plan shows that it was never been a playground, rather was a plot. Kids used to play here as it was free. But, as the Ansar-VDP set up camp there, we will set up a playground and a eidgah ground in Hajipara as an alternative. Moreover, we will follow the final directions from the apex court."
thereport.live tried several times to contact Major General Mizanur Rahman Shamim, the director general of Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP). However, he was not available for his comment over the issue.
Later while contacted, Abdur Rab, legal adviser to Ansar-VDP, said:"The issue is awaiting directives from the Appellate Division. We will comply with the decision of the apex court in this regard."
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