In India, police shot dead at least eight protesters during a demonstration calling for the state to give government land to the poor. The protest occurred in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. A state minister said police opened fire on a tent filled with people after some protesters threw stones at the officers. The protest was part of a day-long demonstration across the state planned by two communist parties spearheading the demand for free government land for the poor. Nilotpal Basu of the Communist Party of India said the chief minister of the state should step down following the killings.

Nilotpal Basu: “We think Rajashekhara Reddy has absolutely no moral right to continue in office. Not only has he fired people who were innocent and killed them, but on top of that he is spreading the worst kind of falsehood. Television footages have showed that there were no provocation, no violence on the part of the demonstrators. Only when they attacked the peoples’ leaders there, the people tried to rescue them, and in response this kind of barbarity has happened.”

Protests continued today in India. In New Delhi, police used water cannons to break up a student protest over the shootings.