In terms of population, Dhaka is the second largest city in South Asia and the seventh largest in the world. Image via Wikipedia by ASaber91. CC BY 2.0. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is a megacity, and one of the most crowded cities in the world. The urban areas of the city are home to more than 22 million people. However, the number of open spaces, parks and playgrounds in this city is very low compared to the population. And that number is decreasing day by day. In the past few decades, markets, mosques, rickshaw garages, parking lots, and commercial establishments have been built on parks and open spaces by government organisations. Recently, the construction work of a police station building started at an open space used as a playground for children in the Kalabagan area of the city and was met with protests by the locals. Due to the increase in population, open land is becoming scarce and very expensive in Dhaka. The Tentultala field is a 0.2-acre open space beside a small lane in the congested Kolabagan area of the city, and has been used by the local children as a playground for the past five decades. On January 31, 2022, the land was allocated to Dhaka Metropolitan Police to build a permanent building for Kalabagan Police Station which is currently operating in a rented space. In the first week of February, police cordoned off the space with barbed wire and the locals started protests with placards and human chains demanding that the land be released for the children to play. The protest campaigns were being documented on the Facebook page titled “তেঁতুলতলা মাঠ আমাদের প্রাণের দাবী” (The Tentultola ground is our heartful demand) but the issue was unknown to many. View of the construction work of the police station building at Tentultala ground in Kalabagan. Photo by Trishia Nastaran. Used with permission. However, the issue caught the headlines when Syeda Ratna, the coordinator of the local protest campaign, and her son Mohammad Isha Abdullah were detained on April 24, while they were protesting the construction of a boundary wall. The police said that they were live streaming on Facebook from the location and were preventing the authorities from discharging their duty. However, in the face of widespread criticism on mainstream and social media, the police released them in the early hours of April 25, after holding them for 13 hours. Twitter user Ruposh Bangla shared a cartoon by cartoonist Mehedi: সৈয়দা রত্না: খেলার মাঠে পুলিশের ভবন নির্মাণের বিরুদ্ধে আন্দোলন করায় মা ও ছেলে আটকের পর মুচলেকা দিয়ে ছাড়া পেল pic.twitter.com/QBPXZGIYxh — Ruposh Bangla (@ruposhbangla) April 25, 2022 Syeda Ratna: Mother and son released on bond after protesting against the construction of a police station on a playground. Deutsche Welle Bangla reported: পুলিশ মাঠ দখলের বিরুদ্ধে আন্দোলনকারী মা সৈয়দা রত্না ও তার কিশোর ছেলেকে বিনা ওয়ারেন্টে , বিনা মামলায় ১৩ ঘন্টা আটক রেখে প্রচলিত আইন ও সংবিধানের লঙ্ঘন করেছে। #Bangladesh https://t.co/Vre1uXlOYu — DW বাংলা (@dw_bengali) April 25, 2022 The police have violated the local law and the constitution by detaining protestor Syeda Ratna and her teenage son for 13 hours without a warrant or a charge. Political activist Rafid Al Bukhari Talukdar wrote on Facebook: বিশ্বের অধিকাংশ শহর যেখানে স্থাপনা অপসারণ করে উন্মুক্ত স্থানের পরিমাণ বাড়াচ্ছে, ঠিক তার বিপরীতে ঢাকাকে ক্রমেই কংক্রিটের জঞ্জালে পরিণত করা হচ্ছে। জাতি হিসেবে আমরা লজ্জিত। When many cities in the world are increasing the number of open spaces by removing unnecessary installations, open spaces in Dhaka are gradually transforming into concrete dumps. We are ashamed as a nation. Nowadays children in Dhaka are mostly growing between four walls as the playgrounds are shrinking. In an op-ed on Dainik Shikhsa (the Daily Education), Tanjinul Haque Molla showed that there is a direct correlation between the decrease in playgrounds and the rise of crimes in the city. বর্তমানে খেলার মাঠ কমে যাওয়ার কারণে ছেলেমেয়েরা প্রযুক্তির ওপর নির্ভরশীল হচ্ছে। যার ফলে তাদের আচরণগত পরিবর্তন হচ্ছে। ইচ্ছাকৃতভাবে স্কুল পালাচ্ছে। কিংবা সেখানকার নিয়মশৃংখলা ভঙ্গ করছে। এমনকি রাষ্ট্রিক আইন বা পৌর বিধিবহির্ভূত কাজ করছে। মাতা-পিতা বা অভিভাবকের নিয়ন্ত্রণের বাইরে চলে যাওয়া ছেলেমেয়েরা পর্নোগ্রাফি বা মাদকে আসক্ত হচ্ছে দিন দিন। Children are becoming more dependent on technology and increased screen time as they do not get a chance to play in the open. As a result, their behaviour is changing – some are skipping school, or breaking the rules here and there. They are becoming more prone to breaking laws. Children who are going out of the control of their parents or guardians often gradually become addicted to pornography or drugs.