Amusement parks in the capital were thronged with children yesterday, who came with their parents to celebrate the International Mother Language Day and the weekly holiday.
Yesterday was also the 47th day of the indefinite blockade imposed by the BNP but that did not deter parents from accompanying their children to the recreational facilities. Nine-year-old Mim was elated when her father, Mahtab Ahmed, announced early yesterday that the whole family was going to celebrate the holiday at Shyamoli Shishu Park, a state-run children’s park.
Mahtab also told his daughter that they would go to Central Shaheed Minar to pay tributes to the language martyrs.
“I am incredibly happy. The last time I came at Shyamoli Shishu Park was about six months ago. I got really bored at home but now I am very happy to be here,” Mim told the Dhaka Tribune.
She said her father avoided outdoor activities on weekends because of security concerns in the wake of the recent political unrest in the country.
“We first went to Shaheed Minar to pay floral tributes to those who sacrificed their lives for our language. There we had fuchka and ice cream before we came to the park. I have already had five rides here,” added the girl.
The city parks also had visitors, mostly families with children, on Friday for being a weekly holiday but the number was higher yesterday.
An official of Shishu Park in Shahbagh nevertheless said the number of visitors there was not greater than that in 2014.
“At this time last year, we got hordes of visitors and many children could not even enjoy the rides because of the crowd,” said Zakir Hossain. “Compared to the flow of weekend visitors in the past few months, today’s number is certainly higher. Because of the prevailing political instability, the park was practically empty in the recent past but it is now bustling with people. Parks should be full of activity all the time, should not they?”
Monjurul Ahmed, who works at a private firm, said he tries to take his two children to amusement parks at least twice a month but did not do so in the last three months as he was apprehensive of getting caught in untoward situations amid mounting political tensions.
“I brought my children today at Shishu Park as they felt like they were becoming captives at home,” he added.
Dr Enayet Hossain, curator of Dhaka Zoo, said the zoo is visited by 10,000-15,000 people on an average every day but the number soars up to seven times on Eid day and remains so for the next four to five days.
“The number of visitors also rises two to three times on weekly holidays. I would not say today’s flow of visitors matched our expectations but taking into account the ongoing political situation, the number was good,” he said.
“We also got a large number of visitors today who came from outside the capital but such visitors are barely found on Saturdays,” he added.
The ongoing blockade came into effect on January 6, and the BNP has also imposed general strikes in several phases since then.