Given the burgeoning nature of our capital's population and subsequent development, it is still a matter of great shame that Dhaka still has next to no dedicated spaces where children are allowed to be children.
Last year, the nation witnessed a veritable battle for the Tetultola playground, where the administration sought to build a police station over a land that has been a known space for children to engage in play. Thankfully, reason did ultimately prevail, and the protestors won out in preserving the playground, one of the few in the entirety of the capital city.
Even the ones which exist are either too far away for many, overcrowded, being taken over by construction, or have fallen in a state of disrepair since time immemorial, leaving them unusable and even dangerous.
There is plenty of scientific studies which back up the importance of play. Children and the youth need to engage in play and physical activity in order to develop cognitively, physically, socially, and even emotionally. Children of this country -- particularly in our overpopulated urban areas -- are being deprived of this basic right simply because there is a lack of adequate playgrounds.
Whatever happened to the Dhaka North City Corporation's plans to revamp over 25 parks and playgrounds?
It wasn't that long ago that Covid-19 forced children to be cooped up in their homes with no scope for any physical activity. Now that the virus is far less of a threat, it behooves the government to finally deliver on its plans and started working on creating more dedicated spaces for our children to finally let loose.
Our children are the future leaders of this nation, and it is an absolute imperative that their psychological and physical development be given due attention not just by us but the state as well.