ARMED land grabbers set on fire 364 homes in three villages under two police stations in Satkhira district on Sunday morning. They attacked the landless people living in Khas land, leased out to them by the government, and left at least 80 of them injured. Lethal weapons like guns and bombs were used in the

unprecedented assault on the poor victims.

Clearly, it was a brutal attempt to evict the landless from their homes, though their lease rights are established and they are the lawful occupants of the land. In terms of atrocity and barbarity, it has surpassed all known incidents of this nature. It is a reflection of how vulnerable some disadvantaged segments of society are to the machinations of vested interests. It is also an example of how bad the law and order situation is in the remote areas. The point is relevant because all our thoughts on and assessments of law and order are generally focused on the capital city.

Police are reported to have arrested eight people in this connection. Of course the culprits need to be brought to justice. But it is a regrettable lapse on the part of the law enforcers that they allegedly arrived at the scene of occurrence at least two hours after the rampaging was over. The attackers got enough time to destroy the homes and assault the people. The police have again failed to respond quickly.

Now, the victims have ended up paupers. The law enforcers should guarantee their security and the local administration should see to it that they are fully reinstated in their homes.

The assault has created a humanitarian crisis in the area as a large number of people have lost their homes. The law enforcers must also find out who organised this armed attack which had all the elements of a raid conducted by a medieval chieftain to concur new areas. The vested interest groups cannot be allowed to subject poor people to this type of repression.