AP: 12 killed as India police, farmers clash

[ellisonz]

12 killed as India police, farmers clash
29 minutes ago

CALCUTTA, India - Farmers in eastern India angered by government plans to build an industrial park on their land fought police with rocks, machetes and pickaxes Wednesday, and at least 12 people were killed, officials said.

The clashes broke out when police tried to enter villages in the Nandigram area for the first time since January, when violence forced officers to abandon their posts in the vicinity.

Those disturbances prompted the government to temporarily suspend plans for scores of so-called Special Economic Zones, which are meant to attract investors with generous tax breaks.

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He added that 39 people were wounded, including 14 police officers. Vohra said the death toll was likely to rise because many of the injured were in critical condition.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070315/ap_on_re_as/india_farmer_violence;_ylt=AhAlmeohU1Gs7TNGGPKb_7cBxg8F

Capital vs. Labor...what else is new?

:grr:

[David__77]

1. Chinese-style communists rule West Bengal, pushing these SEZ's.

It's interesting how the "left" is being used as the neo-liberal battering ram. Rather, they are filling that role of their own accord. For 30 years, West Bengal has had a left, communist-led state government, and they're on the cutting edge of right-wing economics.

[Eugene]

2. AP: Indian Farmers Set Fire to Gov't Office

Indian Farmers Set Fire to Gov't Office

By MANIK BANERJEE
The Associated Press
Thursday, March 15, 2007; 6:01 AM

CALCUTTA, India -- Farmers angry over plans to build an industrial park on their
land set fire to a government office Thursday in a second day of unrest in eastern
India, authorities said, as the death toll from violence the day before rose to 14.

Police responded with baton-charges and tear gas, dispersing mobs of angry
protesters who then quickly regrouped elsewhere.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031500387.html

[Eugene]

3. Reuters: Strike over land killings shuts down Indian state

Strike over land killings shuts down Indian state
16 Mar 2007 05:24:24 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Kamil Zaheer

KOLKATA, India, March 16 (Reuters) - A strike called to protest the killing
of 14 villagers demonstrating against a planned industrial hub shut schools,
offices, and shops in India's communist-ruled state of West Bengal on
Friday.

The streets of the state capital Kolkata and its suburbs, where 10 million
people live, were nearly empty barring police patrols and the occasional
government bus and private car.

Many strikers blame Wednesday's killings at Nandigram, 150 km (90 miles)
southwest of Kolkata, on the state government which wants to set up a
chemical industrial hub on farming land despite opposition from villagers.

Police fired on villagers during the clashes as officers tried to enter
the farming land earmarked for development. "They called themselves
communists but they fire bullets at poor farmers," said Gopi Mondal,
a 65-year-old taxi driver, shaking his head.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL32554.htm

[Eugene]

4. AP: Indian State Drops Industrial Zone Plan

Indian State Drops Industrial Zone Plan

By MANIK BANERJEE
The Associated Press
Saturday, March 17, 2007; 9:19 AM

CALCUTTA, India -- An Indian state government said Saturday it is
dropping plans for an industrial zone after deadly riots by farmers
furious that their land was being taken for the project.

The deaths of 14 farmers in clashes between police and demonstrators
on Wednesday in Nandigram ignited riots across the eastern state of
West Bengal. More than 800 people were arrested.

-snip-

"Land would not be acquired for any special economic zones in
Nandigram," Bose said. He also said the government would begin to
remove police forces, who returned to the area on Wednesday after
abandoning their posts during related violence in January.

The trouble in Nandigram first erupted on Jan. 7 after the leak of
a government plan to acquire 22,000 acres of land in the area, and
to build a petrochemical plant and shipyard.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031700462.html