Eidgah Mosque committee's rejoinder and our reply
The president of Dhanmondi Eidgah mosque committee Makbul Ahmed in a rejoinder to The Daily Star on a report headlined " Mosque committee steals age-old trees, grabs land" published on January 24, 2007 states: "Under a future plan the mosque committee has chopped down the trees to build a park. This action was taken to enhance the beauty of the ancient mosque and to protect the artefact. The trees made the area bushy. As a result antisocial activities were taking place there."The rejoinder also said that the correspondent did not talk with the president of the mosque committee or with anybody concerned. Our reply
This correspondent has talked to the general secretary of the mosque committee Atikul Habib and also the vice president Abul Khaer Bablu regarding the illegal felling of the age-old trees. Atik said they would convert the disputed land into a parking lot for the mosque. However, on June 11, 2006 Ministry of Housing and Public Works permitted the mosque committee to use 2.2 bighas of its land on the eastern side of the Eidgah under strict conditions. One of the conditions included that for any type of development on the site the mosque committee must obtain prior permission from relevant authorities. We contacted the Chief Architect of the Department of Architecture under the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, who clearly pointed out that the area on which the mosque committee is claiming ownership is a designated public park. "We have instructed the PWD to build a public park with a grill-fence around it," Mohammad Ismail, the Chief Architect said. The ministry has not permitted the mosque committee to use the western side of the Eidgah. The area belongs to Public Works Department (PWD). As a result the mosque committee is not the authority to chop down the trees. The PWD meanwhile lodged several written complaints to the Dhanmondi police station. We stand by our story titled "Mosque committee steals age-old trees, grabs land" published on January 24, 2007.
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