Editorial
HC order flouted openly
Public playground grabbed forcibly
DHANMONDI public playground at Road 8, supposed to be a space for public use, has been grabbed by a club claiming exclusivity. What is interesting to note here is that the High Court has issued a number of orders to allow the space to remain in the public sphere. Yet, as per media reports, a private organisation by the name of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club has taken possession of the park and outsiders are now barred access to it. Such open defiance of HC ruling, and that too right in the middle of one of the most important residential areas of Dhaka city, is unbecoming of people who are supposed to know the importance of a public park to the residents around.
The park authority that comes under the jurisdiction of the city corporation is strangely silent on the issue. What is to be noted here is that a senior police official is apparently a member of the organisation's governing body. Are we then to assume that the organisation is so powerful that even the corporation authorities dare not move against its actions that are clearly illegal? The knocking down of the park wall, construction of illegal structures on park premises, barring entry of citizens to what is clearly a 'public' park, are a disservice to the residents. The HC's orders in 2011 to the concerned ministry and Dhaka South City Corporation to remove illegally constructed fixtures have fallen on deaf ears. If the rulings of the highest court of the land are wilfully ignored, precisely where or to which authority do the citizens of the land turn for justice?
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