The Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon and the Green Voice, two environmental platforms, on Thursday held a ‘Long March’ in the capital Dhaka, demanding the reopening of parks, including Anwara Park and Osmani Uddayan, for public use.
They held the rally at 11:00am in front of Anwara Park at Farmgate, followed by a march to Panthakunja Park at Banglamotor.
However, members of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon and the Green Voice clashed with members of the Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement, another environmental platform, at Panthakunja on the day.
When the march entered Panthakunja Park at about 12:15pm, Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement members who had been holding a 24-hour sit-in since December 14 to protect the park from the Dhaka Elevated Expressway protested against the march, accusing the participants of neglecting the sit-in for 20 days and criticising BAPA vice-president Iqbal Habib’s involvement in the expressway project, leading to heated arguments between the groups.
At one point, individuals, including members of the Tejgaon College unit of Green Voice, attacked members of the Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement.
The Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement said that seven of its members and three local people were injured in the incident.
Faisal, one of the injured, was taken to the Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital for treatment, it said.
Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement coordinator Amirul Rajiv said that no one from BAPA joined their sit-in protest demanding the cancellation of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway segment from Tejgaon to Plassey Crossing via Panthakunja Park and Hatirjheel Lake.
He alleged, ‘The expressway segment to Plassey was designed by BAPA vice-president architect Iqbal Habib.’
BAPA general secretary Md Alamgir Kabir said that they came to the park to express solidarity with the movement.
However, members of the movement provoked the activists by making derogatory statements, he said.
Green Voice central co-coordinator Md Humayun Kabir Sumon said, ‘They accused the Green Voice members of coming here for money, which angered them and led to a scuffle.’
Iqbal Habib denied his involvement in the expressway project, stating, ‘I was involved in designing the environmental impact management project under the Bridges Division, which aims to mitigate the damage to Hatirjheel Lake caused by the expressway.’
To construct the segment, the expressway authority has already installed 41 pillars, filling a portion of Hatirjheel Lake and cutting down most of the trees at Panthakunja Park.
