February 07, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 28, 1429

KOLKATA, Feb 6: India’s West Bengal state was paralysed on Wednesday by a strike protesting against the police killing of five demonstrators who took part in an anti-unemployment rally, officials said.

The day-long strike, called by a member of West Bengal’s ruling Marxist coalition, was the latest challenge to the government of the impoverished state, which has been rocked by violent protests since early 2007.

Demonstrators in state capital Kolkata blocked roads and appealed to people to support the shutdown, shouting: “Make the strike successful. Protest against the communists’ misrule.” The five demonstrators killed on Tuesday in northern Dinhata town, 600 kilometres from Kolkata, were all activists of the Forward Bloc, a minority partner in the state’s nine-party ruling coalition, police said.

Police said they fired at the demonstrators when they started striking police and government officials with bamboo sticks and pelting them with stones. The protesters were demanding that the government provide jobs for the rural poor.A policemen injured in the clashes died early on Wednesday, police said.

In several parts of the state on Wednesday, supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the ruling coalition, fought street battles with Forward Bloc supporters.

“Nearly a dozen people received minor injuries” in the clashes, police inspector general Raj Kanojia said in Kolkata. A few small crude bombs also exploded near a railway station in the city but there were no casualties.

Shops and other businesses were closed along with schools and colleges and public transit came to a halt across the state.

Kolkata wore a deserted look. Only government offices were open but officials reported thin attendance.

“Everything is shut down across the state except the airports but passengers are stranded there because there’s no transport,” said Kanojia.

The situation in Dinhata remained tense, said area police superintendent Anil Kumar.

Dozens of protesters were arrested by police throughout the state.

Analysts say regular strikes and continuing violence could hurt their effort to woo industry.

Last year, they were forced to abort a so-called special economic zone (SEZ) in the state’s Nandigram area, as villagers refused to give up their farmland.

Although the project has been shelved, political hostilities have not abated and at least 35 villagers have been killed in clashes over the last year.

“The government has to come clean on its motives or face more protests,” Mamata Banerjee, leader of the Trinamul Congress, the main opposition party said.

—Agencies