Dhanmondi Club field opens to all

The Dhaka City Corporation (South) has opened Dhanmondi-8 playground to all. It hung several notices at the ground at the weekend saying that no one will be restricted from entering it. The field was the cause of an intense row between Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club officials and environmentalists who have been demonstrating against restrictions on its use. The club officials do not want ‘commoners’ to have access to the playground. “There has been some trouble regarding the field,” DCC’s public relations officer Uttam Kumar Roy said. “The ground belongs to the city corporation so we have opened it for all to avoid further complications.” Officials of Sheikh Jamal club continued to ask why commoners should be allowed to enter the playground. The presidents of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Kazi Salahuddin and Nazmul Hasan, have both sided with the club. But former national cricket captain Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu and former national badminton and table tennis ace Quamrun Nahar Dana were among the sports personalities who wanted the field to be open to all. Environmentalists moved the High Court after Sheikh Jamal club began building basketball, badminton and tennis courts there. The High Court, in March 2011, ordered the field to be opened and all illegal structures removed within 15 days, according to bdnews24.com.