Call to stop handover of property

Guardians of the school for intellectually challenged children organised a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club in the city yesterday. PHOTO: STAR

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, they said the steps to handover the property would create serious obstacles to get the intellectually challenged children back to a normal life.

In a written statement on behalf of the parents and guardians, Faruque Abdullah said though the Society for the Welfare of the Intellectually Disabled (SWID) was formed for the welfare of the disabled, some members of its executive committee have handed over all the properties including the school building and its playground to a real estate firm named Domino secretly ignoring the greater interest of the intellectually challenged children.

Terming the step as shameful he said it is the part of a long-term conspiracy as the committee took similar step to handover the school property to Dhaka Commerce College at Mirpur earlier, but the step was unsuccessful due to strong resistance from the guardians.

He said the committee has no right to handover the school property of the intellectually challenged children.

Salma Haque, mother of an intellectually challenged, said the committee is doing this in the name of fund raising, but there are many other ways to raise fund under the constitution of the society.

She said a playground is very important for intellectually challenged who can overcome their physical and mental inertia by taking part in games and physical exercises.

Aleya Sultana, Atia Sultana, Shamima Sultana Shikha, Shamsuddin Majumdar and Md Yeaqub Hossain were present at the press conference.