Tangail Villagers Pool Their Own Money to Buy Land for a Playground, Village Celebrates

The people of Babupur village in Delduar upazila of Tangail have bought 60 decimals of land for a playground with money they raised themselves. After the land was handed over on Thursday (October 29), villagers received it with music, hoisted the national flag on the plot, and celebrated throughout the day.

Babupur is home to about seven hundred families and more than three and a half thousand people, a large share of them children, teenagers and youths. Yet the village had no playground. Villagers had tried several times before to create a field but could not succeed for various reasons.

SM Iqbal Mahmud, one of the initiators of the land purchase, said he discussed the idea a few months ago with Khorshed Alam, a sports-loving figure in the village. They then spoke to several well-off villagers about buying land for a field, and received a positive response.

On September 8, a consultation meeting was held with the villagers. Everyone there supported buying land for a playground and promised to contribute according to their means.

Khorshed Alam said that besides himself and Iqbal Mahmud, Azahar Shikder, Selim Al Mamun, Mizanur Rahman, Majnu Shikder, Shafikul Islam and Shubho Pramanik contributed large amounts. Other villagers also gave what they could; without their cooperation the purchase would not have been possible.

The 60 decimals were bought from local resident Iqbal Hossain Sujan at 52,000 taka per decimal. Iqbal himself also donated one decimal of land free of charge.

Khorshed Alam said they aim to buy another 60 decimals beside the plot. With 120 decimals in total, it will become a good-quality field, and he hopes sports practice in the village will grow around it.

Local teenagers Habibullah, Salman, Rabbi and Johar said they used to play in the fields only after the paddy was harvested, and during the crop season there was no chance to play at all. With a field of their own, they are delighted to be able to play all year round.

Nazrul Shikder, president of the Babupur mosque committee, said that if sports are practised on this field, teenagers and youths will get a healthy environment and stay away from drugs and violence. Monalisa Munni, a former teacher of Babupur Government Primary School and director of Monalisa Women's Sports Academy, said the same.

Shamsul Huda, former principal of Government Maulana Mohammad Ali College, expressed joy that villagers achieved this on their own without government help. He believes people in many other villages will be inspired by them and build centres for sports and cultural practice in their own villages through their own initiative.