Protesters lay down in front of an excavator to protect the centenary old Gokul-Mathura playground in Tanor, Rajshahi. The incident took place on Monday afternoon. Local sports enthusiasts are fighting to the death to protect the playground. There have been allegations that an initiative is being taken to construct a four-story building for the Madrasa by occupying the playground 'through forgery'. However, the Madrasa authorities were finally forced to back down in the face of opposition from the locals.
Gokul-Mathura playground is located in Mathura Mouza of Tanor Upazila of Rajshahi. Its RS Khatian has J.L number 153, Khatian number 38, Dag number 93. The land category is clearly mentioned as 'Playground'.
The area is 1 acre 6 decimals. The owner is written as 'Secretary of Gokul-Mathura Football Club'. However, there is no specific name of any person.
Locals said that the Gokul-Mathura Dakhil Madrasa authorities claimed ownership of a total of 40 percent of the land through two fake donation documents on August 4 and 8, 1999. Before that, on June 5, 1983, the Gokul-Mathura Primary School authorities had donated another 66 percent of the land in their name. In this way, the two institutions secretly took ownership of the entire field through documents.
However, according to Section 5 of the 'Playgrounds, Open Spaces, Gardens and Natural Reservoirs Conservation Act in all Municipal Areas of the Country, Including Municipal Areas of Metropolitan Cities, Divisional Cities and District Cities' enacted in 2000 regarding playgrounds, there is no scope for this category of land to be used or transferred in any other way.
Currently, the President of Gokul-Mathura Football Club is Rafiqul Islam and the General Secretary Harun-or-Rashid.
They said that they came to know about this fraud while collecting land records recently. Since the field was rejected in the name of the two organizations, the current secretary of the field, Harun-or-Rashid, has appealed to the District Administrator by bringing the matter to the attention of the district administrator.
Earlier on June 2, club President Rafiqul Islam filed a case under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the Additional District Magistrate Court of Rajshahi. The court issued an interim injunction until the opponent responds. On June 18, the Madrasa authorities responded to the court. There, the Madrasa Superintendent Abdul Hamid admitted that 1.6 percent of the field will fall under the building.
The next hearing of the case is on July 10. But before the hearing, the madrasa authorities took the initiative to start the construction work.
On the morning of June 23, the Upazila Social Service Officer and the Secondary Education Officer came to lay the foundation stone of the building, but it was not possible due to opposition from the locals.
As soon as the excavator or Vecu machine started digging the field, the players lay down in front of the. The contractor and the equipment were forced to be removed.
When contacted on mobile phone, Social Service Officer of Tanor, Hossain Khan said that they had gone to inaugurate the work on the instructions of the Upazila Executive Officer. They later came to know about the locals' obstruction.
Earlier, the locals have held several programs demanding the protection of the field.
On April 14, a human chain was formed at the field, and the next day, a long march and sit-in program was held from Tanor in front of the Rajshahi District Council office. Memorandums were also submitted to the concerned departments including the Deputy Commissioner.
On May 25, two youth organizations named 'Swapnachari Jubo Unnayan Sangstha' and 'Youth Action for Social Change (YAS)' held a press conference in Rajshahi on behalf of Gokul-Mathura Football Club. On Sunday evening, Madrasa Superintendent Abdul Hamid admitted on his cell phone that a part of the field would be cut off if the building was constructed.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Liaquat Salman could not be contacted regarding this matter.
However, Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Afia Akhtar said, "I am aware of the matter. We will take the right decision after investigation."
