VZCZCXRO5806
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #0486 2111134
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301134Z JUL 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1100
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2679
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5089
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0819
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1348

UNCLAS CHENNAI 000486 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PHUM IN
 
SUBJECT: POLICE SHOOT AND KILL SIX IN ANDHRA PRADESH LAND PROTESTS 
 
REF:  KOLKATA 095 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  On July 28, police shot and killed six villagers in 
Mudigonda in the Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh after a 
political protest demanding free land for the poor turned violent. 
Two other protesters were killed in separate incidents with the 
police.  The protest, sponsored by the Left parties -- the Communist 
Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India - Marxist 
(CPI-M) -- had been ongoing since May.  According to media reports, 
the police fired after protesters began pelting them with rocks. 
Calls for the resignation of Chief Minister YSR Reddy in the wake of 
the incident are likely to go unheeded.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) According to media reports, Andhra Pradesh's Left parties had 
been agitating for the "distribution of agricultural land to the 
landless and house sites for the homeless" since May.  Tensions 
ratcheted up as time went on.  On July 22, two Left party leaders 
went on an indefinite hunger strike.  They then called for a protest 
at the Hyderabad district collector's office on July 26.   The 
police used water canons, teargas, and lathi charges to disperse the 
July 26 protest, but they did not resort to shooting. 
 
¶3. (U) After the July 26 protest in Hyderabad, the Left parties 
called for a statewide strike on July 28.  For the first time, the 
state's other opposition parties -- the TDP, TRS, and BJP -- joined 
in the protest, calling on their supporters to honor the planned 
July 28 statewide strike.  On July 28 in Mudigonda, agitators 
blocked the road, bringing traffic to a standstill.  When police 
reinforcements arrived and tried to break the blockade protestors 
began throwing stones at them, according to media reports. 
Additional Superintendent of Police Ramesh Babu ordered the police 
to fire, killing six and injuring eight protestors.  Twelve police 
officers were reportedly injured.  Protest organizers said the 
police fired without warning.  They also accused the police of using 
self-loading rifles, which are issued to anti-terrorism units and 
not intended for use against civilians.  (NOTE:  Khammam district, 
where Mudigonda is located, is an area with significant Maoist 
activity.  As such, the police there likely did have self-loading 
rifles.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶4. (U) Opposition party leaders from across the board predictably 
called for Congress party Chief Minister YSR Reddy's resignation. 
For the families of the protesters killed by the police, the Chief 
Minister announced USD 12,500 compensation, a house, and a 
government job for one member of the family.  The seriously injured 
would get USD 1,250 and those treated as out-patients USD 250, in 
addition to free medical care.  The Chief Minister also announced a 
judicial inquiry into the firing. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT: "The whole incident was politically motivated," 
said a media contact.  He explained that the Left parties are 
looking to build up their base in Andhra Pradesh.   The TDP, no 
longer allied with the BJP's National Democratic Alliance, needs a 
new partner to help it defeat Congress in the 2009 elections.  The 
TDP had, in fact, stalled the land distribution program when it was 
in power.  But with it now looking to the prospect of aligning with 
the Left parties in the next statewide elections it has decided to 
join hands with the Left parties on the issue.  The tragic shooting 
incident gives the TDP and the Left parties more ammunition against 
YSR Reddy's Congress government.  That said, a well-placed Congress 
party Member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly dismissed 
the idea that Chief Minister Reddy should resign.  He pointedly 
mentioned that Congress did not push for the ousting of West Bengal 
CPI-M Chief Minister Buddhadheb Bhattacharya after the March 
incident in Nandigram where police killed 14 people (reftel).  END 
COMMENT. 
 
KAPLAN