Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club playground was opened to all on Thursday by the Dhaka City Corporation (South). The corporation hung a notice yesterday announcing that from now on no one will be restricted from entering the ground. “The playground belongs to the city corporation so we have opened it for all to avoid any further complications,” official sources confirmed. The playground was the cause of an intense row between the officials of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and the environmental activists who have been demonstrating against restricting its use. The club officials do not want the ‘common people’ to have access to the field, it is alleged. Earlier, the authorities of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club restricted the entrance to the common people. Because of the restriction people, particularly the youths and joggers, of Dhanmondi area could not use the playground.The civil society leaders and the environmentalists had been demanding for long that the ground should be kept open for all. They also filed a writ petition with the High Court in this regard.Many organizations have arranged rallies, discussions and formed human chains earlier in the different areas of the city demanding the field open for all. The residents of Dhanmondi also distributed leaflets and hanged posters outside the club with a demand to save the ground from the land grabbers.Dhanmondi Club at its Annual General Meeting in 2009 had decided unopposed that the club would be named Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. Since then the club authorities have been using the ground for football and cricket practices.Earlier, the Ministry of LGED has decided to construct one basketball ground, two lawn tennis courts and two badminton courts at Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club ground.Secretary of Sheikh Jamal Club on April 19 filed a case against the activists and many residents of Dhanmondi area as they entered the playground and held a rally there on the day demanding that the filed should be opened for all. Meanwhile, Architect Mobassher Hossain and six of his associates filed a writ petition with the High Court on Wednesday to stop all construction works at the ground. On March 15, 2011, the High Court in a verdict ordered for stopping the construction work and shifting the construction materials within 15 days. But the club authorities did not follow the order. Rather, they restricted the entrance of the common people.
