Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW Vol. 5 Num 968 Mon. February 19, 2007       Letters to Editor Harsh action M. Abdullah, Gulshan, Dhaka The news (1500 shanties on railway land removed) and the corresponding painful picture of old women, children etc. of the demolished shanties published in the DS on 25.01.2007 is in reference. Perhaps there is wide difference between the land grabbers and the poor occupying unauthorised lands. The former does the illegal work for lust and money while the latter do so for bare survival. The activities of both, it's true are not justifiable. And, so when the authorities cracked down on the illegal land grabbers, the general people hailed the action but in my humble opinion when the authorities resorted to evicting the poor, the same people could not help registering their protest. This is because the act is harsh and in contrast to the earlier acts of generosity like distribution of blankets and warm clothes among the poor. The desired thing before eviction was to arrange alternate accommodation or at least, defer the action until the warm summer sets in. After all, when the authorities could ignore the illegal occupation of land by the poor for decades, perhaps there was no harm in waiting for another COUPLE of months. The poor are also the citizens of this country and duly deserve some humane treatment.