A general strike against spiraling food prices paralyzed the eastern Indian city of Kolkata yesterday as thousands of police were deployed across West Bengal state to stop protests turning violent.
Demonstrators paraded through the streets of the capital of Marxist-ruled West Bengal shouting, “Stop the food price rises!” and calling for the resignation of the Congress-led federal government.
Buses were off the roads, a number of train services were halted and shops closed as the protesters took to the streets, witnesses said.
The demonstration came as data late last week showed annual inflation had more than doubled in four months to touch a three-year high of 7.14 percent, driven in part by a big jump in the cost of basic staples such as lentils.
Similar protests were reported in other parts of West Bengal as the 12-hour strike called by the opposition Trinamool Congress and its ally, the Socialist Unity Centre of India, took effect, senior police official Raj Kanojia said.
“Over 10,000 policemen have been deployed on roads, railway stations and government offices across the state to maintain peace,” he said.
Some 250 protesters had been taken into custody for staging sit-ins on roads and railway tracks.
Railways spokesman Deepak Jha said train services were “disrupted” with long-distance trains stopped from coming into the state. But flights were operating normally, said V. K. Monga, director of Airport Authority of India.
The Marxists, who also prop up the Congress-led government in New Delhi, have been sharply critical of its inability to tackle inflation.
But senior West Bengal Marxist leader Biman Bose refused to support yesterday’s strike “as it would harm the progress of the state.”
“Our cadres will try to stop protesters forcing businesses to shut down,” he said.
New Delhi has already slashed food duties and banned exports of lentils and other staples and will not hesitate to further “sacrifice revenues to control prices,” Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said last week.
The government is also willing to accept slower growth to curb prices, he said, adding India is not alone in grappling with inflation.
Other nations were also suffering as costs of wheat, rice, cooking oils, metals and other commodities march higher globally, he said.
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