City dwellers, including green and rights activists, on Monday protested the role of police officials in detaining a mother and her young son for protesting against the construction of a police station on a playground at Kalabagan in the capital. They demanded an impartial investigation into the incident. According to media reports, the mother and her son were kept detained at the Kalabagan Police Station for about 13 hours. However, they were released after Sunday midnight amid protests in front of the police station and on social media as well. The law enforcers allegedly tried to spread fear among the locals by detaining the mother and her son without following any legal procedure.
Although the police have not yet said that no one can criticise them, whether they do right or wrong, that is how things seem in detaining the mother and son. Mother Sayeda Ratna was released after signing a bond stating that she would no longer be involved in the protest. This has exposed the arrogant attitude of the police. “We demand the relocation of the police station to another place to save the playground and water bodies in accordance with the election manifesto of the ruling Awami League and the Detailed Area Plan,” said Urban planner, green and rights activists at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity on Monday. They alleged that laws and law enforcement agencies are being used as tools against those individuals and organisations working to protect the environment and human rights. This is the latest example of such an act.
Children and teenagers used to play in this open space known as Tentultala field which has been lying vacant for almost 50 years. Besides, there are various social programmes, including Eid prayers and janaza held here. It is the only playground in ward 17 under the Dhaka South City Corporation. But police say the Dhaka district administration has allocated the land for the construction of Kalabagan Police Station building. Since then, there have been several protests under the banner of ‘Kalabagan locals’ to save the field. One of them was Syeda Ratna, a local resident. Syeda Ratna was broadcasting it live on Facebook when police started construction work on the field on Sunday. For this reason, she and her young son were detained at the police station on charges of obstructing government work.
The most appalling thing is that despite the home minister’s request to search for a new site, the construction work was running on Monday in the presence of a large number of policemen.
