No assembly point in Dhaka despite public progs disrupting lives

The authorities concerned, including the two city corporations in Dhaka and the capital development authority, popularly known as RAJUK, have no plan for creating public squares for social, religious, and political gatherings and the expression of freedom like political rallies, while the spaces like Paltan Maidan and Muktangan have been filled with infrastructure.

As a result of the lapses and gaps in the planning, major political parties like BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami arrange political programmes at Naya Paltan, Institution of Engineers and the Suhrawardy Udyan, causing huge traffic jams as a huge number of people gather on the streets and move to and from the venues, barring vehicle movement.

Besides, the aggrieved citizens and others use Press Club, Shahbagh Intersection, and the area in front of the residence of the Chief Adviser at Kakrail as a place for congregation to press home their demands, which creates huge suffering for the people travelling to and from nearby universities and hospitals.

Urban planners said that a space in the city for political activities, which the developed countries have, like Trafalgar Square in London and Tahrir Square in Egypt, is essential in a metropolitan area.

The Constitution of the country guarantees the right to freedom of assembly and expression as fundamental rights under Articles 37 and 39, respectively, but the government has not created scope for exercising the rights in a smooth manner, they said.

Despite this urgency, the two major plans for Dhaka – the Detailed Area Plan by RAJUK and the Local Area Plan by the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) – do not include the public square for the expression of their voice.

No space for meetings

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Chief Town Planner Sirajul Islam told Daily Sun on 14 January that they had no plan for creating a public square and they only follow the plan of RAJUK.

He said, “The space should be included in the land-use planning in the city, and RAJUK does the planning. They should specify it in their Detailed Area Plan for Dhaka 2022–35.”

He also said that he did not know if RAJUK included the space in the planning, and the DSCC did not make a demand for keeping the space in their planning.

DNCC Chief Town Planner (in charge) SM Shofiqur Rahman said that they did not keep any space for a public square in their planning.

He said, “We have kept space for big parks and playgrounds, which are public spaces for entertainment. But we did not keep any space for mass social, political, and religious gatherings in the local area plan.”

RAJUK Town Planner Mahfuja Aktar said that the latest DAP did not include any public square but included many large-scale parks and playgrounds.

She said, “We have no big space for the square that big cities have. We had Paltan Maidan, but we have developed playgrounds there. Big space is usually situated in the heart of the city, but we have no big spaces like that. We have to acquire land for that, but in the developed cities, it is nearly impossible.”

She also said, “We had talked about the space of the old airport area, but we could not do it as it is used by the air force. We can now consider Purbachal for the space or elsewhere, though it is not the central point of the city, and the plan does not include it.”

She added that the political government needs a bold decision in this regard to have the space.

Parties promise to consider meeting space

Talking to the Daily Sun, BNP chairman’s adviser Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair said that they would not consider the square if they are voted into power.

BNP leader Alal said, “When the BNP was in power, Paltan Maidan and Muktangan were the prime hubs of political programmes. Till the caretaker government’s tenure in 2009, we had used the spaces, but when the fascist government came to power in 2009, these were covered with structures. Ziaur Rahman opened the Muktangan for political programmes like Hyde Park in London. Manik Mia was another public space for mass gathering, but Sheikh Hasina changed its use by constructing road dividers. The last space, Suhrawardy Udyan, was also covered with infrastructure, which reduced its capacity.”

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Zubair said, “In the last 54 years, all major parties shared state power; we were also a small part of the government from 2001–06, but our ministers did not hold the portfolio of the relevant ministries accountable for creating the space. Our leaders did not run RAJUK and city corporations, and those who were in charge did not take action.”

He also said, “City corporations and RAJUK should have kept the square in the plan. We are not doing a political rally unless we are forced by circumstances. If we are voted to power we must work on the issue.”