Locals win as PM says Tentultala field to remain a field

Following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's directive to not build the Kalabagan Police Station in Tentultala, an air of festivity swept the neighbourhood, with locals celebrating their triumph in a long, hard fought battle.

Noted citizens, who gathered for a press conference on Thursday following the announcement, thanked the PM for her decision. 

Taking the responsibility of redesigning the Tentultala field to make it a modern one, Mobasher Hossain, president of the Institute of Architects, said PM Hasina's decision to keep the proposed site for the station as an open field was a gift from her to the local children.

Earlier, informing reporters of the PM's directives at the Secretariat, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said there was no playground in the area or any place for the children to play or entertain themselves.

The PM had asked that construction work on the police station be stopped. She, however, noted that the land belonged to the police, so they should keep it. 

Meanwhile, Syeda Ratna, who led the protests against the new station, has requested that the field not be kept in the ownership of the police. 

Speaking to The Business Standard, Ratna said, "I want to thank the prime minister for her decision. At the same time, I would like to request the prime minister that the field be made completely free."

She said that if police retained ownership of the land, they might use it however they want and might even attempt to make another building there. 

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), said, "No matter who owns the land, it will be reserved for the locals as an open space." 

"It can belong to the local government, city corporation or the deputy commissioner, but all we wanted was to preserve the field," she said. 

She said the PM had given the land to the locals.

Rizwana Hasan also said that in the Detailed Area Plan of Dhaka, which is in its final stages, the field had been kept as an open space and this would not be changed. 

She urged the police not to do the same thing again. 

Rizwana Hasan also demanded that the field be renovated and maintained.

On the issue of police ownership of the land, architect Iqbal Habib said to TBS, "I see it differently. If you think about it negatively, it looks negative. I see it positively. That is why the prime minister has said that the locals will use it the way they want. 

"I expect the police to play a role in preserving the field. And they will also make this field more suitable for various social and cultural ceremonies. They will focus on making it civic. The police will cooperate in the security and maintenance of the field. As such, I view it positively."

The unused 20 katha area under DNCC Ward No 17 has long been used as a local social and cultural hub and a playground for over 50 years. 

After the plans were put in motion to build a police station on the field in 2020, the locals took to the streets in protest. 

On January 31 this year, barbed wire fences were put up around the field, with some policemen from Kalabagan being stationed outside. 

When some children went to play in the first week of February, they were harassed by police, who made them hold their ears and do sit-ups. 

When a video of the incident went viral on social media, four Kalabagan policemen were withdrawn. 

An air of intimidation surrounded the field and discouraged children from going there to play again. 

From then on, the locals, led by Syeda Ratna, launched a movement to demand that the place be protected. 

Following the protests, Ratna and her 17-year-old son were detained by the police for 13 hours. Later, they were released after they were made to sign a bond, which legal experts termed unconstitutional. 

On Monday, following the assurance of the home minister that the police station would be built elsewhere, the protesters thought the battle had been won.

But the construction on the field had not stopped and instead gained more pace. 

On Wednesday, a pillar was installed and brick walls came up as boundaries. 

On behalf of the protesting human rights activists, environmental activists, cultural activists and locals, three prominent citizens held a meeting with the home minister. 

The home minister said he would discuss the matter with the prime minister. 

Architect Mobasher Hossain criticised the construction of the walls around the field in the darkness of the night.