Steeped in history and grandeur, Bahadur Shah Park in old Dhaka struggles to hold on to its heritage and serenity.
The 200-year-old vicinity is a witness to colonial repression, which currently risks losing its identity to commercial interests, thanks to the mercenary attitude of the Dhaka South City Corporation that leased out the park space to a food stall that is occupying a significant portion of park space.
The lessee – DAR Holding Limited – was supposed to set up a mere food van, but it erected an infrastructure on the south side of the park in the past year, violating the lease conditions and ignoring public protest at its move.
The Dhaka south city authority, however, has not taken any action against the leaseholder nor heeded public demand for removal of the food stall – ‘Café Bahadur’ – thronged by customers throughout the day.
‘It has become very difficult to use the park for a walk because a huge crowd always sticks around the café,’ said Abdul Fattaqa, a 60-year-old local resident, who spent decades near the vicinity admiring the beauty of the park and walking inside it.
‘The park has lost its serenity and become noisy,’ he said.
Besides, the homeless and the drug addicts were seen occupying the memorial dedicated to the soldiers killed by the British after the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.
Local people said that the presence of those vagabonds posed a security threat to them while visiting the park.
Abdul Fattaqa also complained that the addicts entered the park, sold drugs and mugged visitors and teased women.
Although there is a public toilet inside the park, people frequently pee on the walkway behind the wall of the park’s eastern side making it a urinal.
Bahadur Shah park is one of a very few open ground accessible to the masses following years of encroachment of city open spaces by both private businesses and the government development activities, according to the park conservation committee.
The 3,600 square-kilometre park established by Nawab Khwaja Abdul Ghani, the first Nawab of Dhaka, during the first half of 19th century, bears the testimony to the first movement against colonial rulers in the Indian subcontinent.
British soldiers publicly hanged the captured mutineers in this place, once known as ‘Victoria Park’ during Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.
In 1957, the park was named after the final Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Jafar II.
Eminent economist Anu Muhammad laid importance on the park for two reasons; first, open space was very rare in Dhaka city, especially in old Dhaka, and second, the country had a few relics of anti-British movements.
He said that the government showed irresponsible behaviour by leasing out the park space to the food stall.
‘I think that there is a conspiracy to take over the park. It is not comprehensible why the Dhaka South City Corporation is so adamant in keeping the food stall there despite protests from local people,’ said the economist.
On February 2, the DSCC mayor told the media that a temporary food stall had been set up inside the park to ensure food for visitors, and the authorities who leased the park would keep the park clean.
‘We will build boundaries and two gates around the park to ensure security. So, there is no question of destroying the heritage,’ he added.
Local people had been protesting since the DSCC leased out the park space at Tk 3.61 lakh for one year in September 2022.
Aktaruzzaman Khan, member secretary of Oitihasik Bahadur Shah Park Oitijjo Rokkha Sangram Parishad said that eminent citizens met the DSCC mayor, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, on November 10 in 2022 with the demand for removal of the café, setting up boundary wall for security and reinstatement of memorial of 1857 Sepoy Mutiny’s martyrs.
‘The mayor assured us that he would take necessary steps but did not keep his promise,’ he added.
Surrounded by trees, the park is the only open space for people in the area and students of 14 nearby educational institutions including Jagannath University to do workout, breathe fresh air and spend quality time, said Aktaruzzaman.
The food stall has shrunk the park space and disturbed its serenity. Besides, constant burning of stoves is causing damage to plants, he added.
‘There are a lot of food shops in the area. No food stall is needed inside the historical site like this. It is sad that we failed to preserve its sanctity,’ said Taimur Islam, chief executive of Urban Study Group.
The DSCC public relations officer, Abu Naser, however, said, ‘We will take action if the lessee builds food stall breaching the contract.’
The city corporation’s chief estate officer, Russel Sabrin, and leaseholder Faruq Alam refused to comment on building the food stall.
On a recent visit to the park, it was seen that the café was running in full swing, with wastes littering everywhere.
As per the lease contract, it was the lessee’s responsibility to clean the park, but that was not caught sight of.
The café manager, Md Zahir, claimed that they cleaned the park every day, but it was difficult to keep the space neat and clean since it was nearly round-the-clock accessible to people.
‘We have applied to the DSCC to erect boundaries around the park,’ he added.
The park was reopened on March 22, 2020 after renovation under the guidance of Md Rafiq Azam, principal architect of ‘Shatotto’, an architectural firm.