Left parties observe shutdown in Andhras Khammam district

The Left parties are observing a day long shutdown in Khammam district of the state today to register their protest against the police firing on a protesting crowd, which claimed eight lives on Saturday.

Hyderabad/Khammam, July 29 : The Left parties are observing a day long shutdown in Khammam district of the state today to register their protest against the police firing on a protesting crowd, which claimed eight lives on Saturday.

Some Left leaders are expected to visit the district to take stock of the situation, even as the police have imposed prohibitory orders in the wake of the shutdown.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are also likely to support the bandh. The State Government has already ordered an enquiry into the incident. Eight persons were killed and several others injured in police firing at Mudigonda village in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh after a protest rally of Left parties against the State Government's land policy turned violent.

Protestors in the village started pelting stones on police, who retaliated first with a baton charge, and then with firing on the 1000-strong mob.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) condemned the police firing, and called upon all its units across the country to protest against the "brutal police action."

It said that the "genuine demands" of the people for house sites and land could not be suppressed by such "brutal display of force."

The CPI (M) said in a statement that police resorted to "brutal" firing on people participating in a "peaceful rasta roko" as part of the bandh to protest police repression and the refusal of the government to concede their "genuine demands."

The CPI (M), CPI and 195 mass organisations have been conducting a movement for house sites and land for the poor, since May 2 this year.

"Instead of discussing and settling the issues, the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh resorted to brutal attacks against the people. Hundreds of people were seriously injured in police lathicharges in different parts of the state and thousands were sent to jail," the party said.

The Congress Government had promised distribution of surplus land to the landless poor. The state has so far distributed about 450,000 acres of land to about 300,000 beneficiaries.

ANI