Ultimatum in Dinajpur to reopen Gor-e Shahid Baromath within 15 days
Local residents in Dinajpur held a human chain and sit-in on Wednesday demanding the removal of an army camp and barbed-wire fencing from the historic Gor-e Shahid Baromath and the reopening of the field to the public.
The human chain was held from 11am to noon on Wednesday (28 October) on the road in front of the Dinajpur deputy commissioner's office. A sit-in followed from noon to 12:10pm in the rail-gate area between Dinajpur municipality and the Kachari gate.
Speakers at the programme warned that if the demand is not met within the next 15 days, tougher programmes including surrounding the deputy commissioner's office will be announced.
The speakers described Gor-e Shahid Baromath as a historic and important place in Dinajpur. Eid prayers are held at the Eidgah minaret there, described as the largest in the Asian subcontinent.
They said social and sporting activities, fairs, public meetings and Islamic gatherings have been held on this field for a hundred years. Many players who played on this field have gone on to contribute at the national level, they added.
The field was once a main centre for sport, recreation and social activities for people in the district, the speakers said. They alleged that setting up an army camp and fencing off a large part of the field with barbed wire has obstructed public entry, movement and sport.
They also said that in 2003, at a deputy commissioners' conference and in the cabinet, then prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia decided the field should remain open to the public. A memorandum seeking implementation of that decision has been submitted to the prime minister, the speakers said.
The speakers cited the role of the field in the rise of national cricketer Litton Das and many other athletes. They said several hundred players from five cricket academies now practise regularly in a limited corner of the field, while fencing off most of it has shrunk the space for practice and play.
The protesters alleged that the district administration first put up a bamboo fence in the name of renovating the field. An army camp was later set up at Dinajpur Sports Village for election activities, and the field was subsequently taken under army supervision, they claimed.
The rally called for the barbed-wire fencing to be removed, free movement for district residents to be ensured, the environment for Eid prayers to be preserved and sporting opportunities to be restored.
Speakers at the human chain included former Dinajpur municipality mayor Mesaddek Hossain Labu, BNP vice-president Khalekuzzaman Babu, Dinajpur Chamber representative Aktaruzzaman Jewel, Golam Nabi Dulal, Rezaur Rahman Reju, Advocate Meherul Islam, and Bangladesh Cricket Board councillor and Dinajpur District Sports Association ad hoc committee member Rehatul Islam Khoka. Leaders of social and political organisations and former and current players were also present.
