'Rehabilitate urban landless in khas lands'

They also called for formulating a guideline for rehabilitation of the urban landless poor, including rickshawpullers, hawkers and slum dwellers, in khas lands in the capital.

According to land ministry statistics, 700 acres of land in the capital, both Khas and vested property, are under the control of influential land grabbers, they said.

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The National Parishad to Observe Land Rights Day organised the rally at Muktangan in the city. The Land Rights Day will be observed on June 10.

Parishad leaders said that while almost half of the city population are landless, a section of influential people are grabbing the khas lands.

Abul Hossain, a member of the parishad, called on the government to evict the land grabbers from the khas lands and distribute those among the landless.

The parishad also placed some other demands, including quick disposal of land-related cases, establishing of separate courts at the district level to dispose of cases, ensuring accountability in land management and protecting the right of indigenous people to land.

Alam Khan, president of Dhaka Mahanagar Rickshaw Malik Oikya Parishad, Rafiqul Islam, general secretary of Hawkers Federation, and Lovely Yasmin, a leader of Garment Workers Federation, also spoke at the rally.