By IANS
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Saturday condemned the police firing in Andhra Pradesh, which killed at least eight Left activists who were staging protests, and demanded firm action against the officers responsible for it.
"The police resorted to brutal firing on people participating in a peaceful rasta roko (road blockade) as part of the bandh (shutdown) to protest police repression and the refusal of the government to concede their genuine demands," the CPI-M politburo said in a statement here.
"Instead of discussing and settling the issues, the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh resorted to brutal attacks against the people," the statement alleged.
A woman and an eight-year-old boy were among the eight killed in Modigonda, 15 km from Khammam town and about 250 km from Andhra Pradesh capital Hyderabad.
The party said hundreds of people were seriously injured in police cane charging in different parts of the state and thousands were sent to jail.
"The genuine demands of the people for house sites and land cannot be suppressed by such brutal display of force," the politburo said.
For nearly three months the Left parties in Andhra Pradesh have been demanding distribution of government land and house sites among the poor. Party activists and many of the poor have been occupying government land across the state as part of their agitation.
The CPI-M demanded that the government "immediately concede" the "genuine demands" raised by the agitators. The party also wanted the government to take "firm action against the police officers responsible for the firing and payment of adequate compensation to those killed".