Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 28: In protest against authorities’ decision to lease out the land of a local playground at Ishbar Nishat on the outskirts of Srinagar, angry sports enthusiast from the area set fire their sports gear to express displeasure.
Scores of sports lovers including children showed up in the Press Enclave here and protested against the lease. The protesters said they have been playing in the ground from last four decades but the move had snatched the facility from them. “Where would our children go for sports activities,” a protester said, adding that they were burning the sports gear to protest against the proposal of authorities to lease out space.
While divulging details about the issue, the protesters said the ground, located on the top side of Nishat garden, was a custodian land and was occupied by some influential person by raising a wall around the ground. ” In the month of March we filed a complaint with the LAWDA( Lakes and Water Development Authority) after some people raised a wall around it,” a protester said, adding in 2007 the then Government promised them to develop the land into a full-fledged stadium.
The protesters said besides plying field, the ground was occasionally used for Eid prayers and funeral procession. They said the decision has plunged the entire area into despair, “Around 40 Kanals of grazing land is used as playground from past many years, but now the government wants to lease it,” a protester said.
Another protester said they have been repeatedly asking the Government not to lease out the land but to no avail. Now, protesters said, they have learnt that the Government has leased a major portion of land to a police officer. ” On one hand the Government is boasting about promotion of sports in the State while on the other hand, they are donating sports fields to police officers, “protesters said, adding the Government was sending a very negative message to the youth of area with this act.
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