Farmers killed in India protest

Police shoot as villagers protest against seizure of farm land for industrial zone.

India protests
Residents in Kolkata protest against police firing upon demonstrators in Nandigram [AFP]
Trinamul Congress, the main opposition party in West Bengal, called a strike on Friday to protest over the killings.
 
Road blockades
 
Hundreds of protesters put up road blockades in Kolkata, causing traffic chaos.

 
Protesters also set fire to a state-owned bus after evacuating passengers, police said.
Previous clashes over the proposed SEZ since January have left at least seven people dead, including one policeman, and more than 100 wounded.
 
Police officials said farmers and political activists, many armed with sickles, attacked officers as they tried to enter a farming area earmarked for the industrial zone.
Another 40 people were injured, including several policemen.
 
Industry hub
 
The clashes took place in Nandigram, 150km south of Kolkata, the capital of communist-ruled West Bengal in eastern India.
 
Authorities want to set up a chemical industry complex there with the support of an Indonesian conglomerate, the Salim Group.
It is just one of several hundred SEZs that the government wants to set up across the country in a bid to lure foreign investment and close the gap with China’s manufacturing sector.
 
Protests have been concentrated in Nandigram, led by farmers unwilling to give up their land for cash.
 
Opposition parties in West Bengal walked out of the state assembly in protest at Wednesday’s killings.
 
Serious challenge
 
In Nandigram, thousands of farmers sang religious songs and many Muslims – the majority religious community in the area – read verses from the Quran to protest at the police shooting.
Abdus Samad, a local Muslim leader, said: “We will fight till the last drop of our blood but not give up an inch of land to the government.”
The unrest has proved a serious challenge for Manmohan Singh, the prime minister,  under pressure to tone down economic reforms amid signs of voter discontent with the ruling Congress party.
Most of the more than 230 SEZ proposals have already been put on hold following earlier violence in West Bengal this year.
Source: News Agencies