11 die, hundreds arrested in strike

Press, 1 September 1989, Page 8

11 die, hundreds arrested in strike

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi Eleven people were killed in India yesterday during a national strike that both the Government and the Opposition claimed as a victory. Hundreds were arrested, but there was less violence than feared. The Government of the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, went to great lengths to thwart the one-day strike, called by the Opposition to back its demand for his resignation over corruption charges. Deploying the police in strength, author!-

ties warned public servants of serious consequences if they took part. Central Government offices and State-owned industries worked fairly normally, but many people seemed to ■ take the strike as an opportnity for a day off. The worst trouble was in the northeastern state of Tripura, a Marxist stronghold, where eight . people were killed and 40 injured in clashes between Congress and Communist Party workers. Three people were killed in Oppositionruled Kerala in southern India.

The Home Minister, Buta Singh, called the day of action a failure. “Defying threats to their safety and security, workers throughout the country have responded magnificently in rejecting what amounted to a call to retard the nation’s progress,” he said in a statement. But the Opposition leader, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, told reporters “The strike was near total in its magnitude.” The strike was widely seen as a trial of strength ahead of parliamentary elections due by the end of the year.