Treading cautiously on the issue of police firing on farmers in Pune that left three persons dead, Home Minister P Chidambaram today said one should not come to a conclusion by watching "two-three seconds of video footage" on the incident.
"I cannot comment on that by looking at a few seconds of video. That would be a very dangerous thing to do. One has to see the entire video footage and hold an inquiry into the matter before one comes to a conclusion whether the firing was justified or not," he told reporters.
At the same time, he made a general remark "I am willing to start on the premise that firing should be avoided as far as possible."
The minister maintained that only after an inquiry is conducted can it be said that firing was "justified".
"I urge all of you not to come to conclusion by seeing two-three seconds of a video footage," he said.
His remarks came on a day when in Mumbai, opposition leaders met Governor K Sankaranarayanan and demanded dismissal of the Congress-NCP government for the police firing, saying the law and order situation had gone "beyond its control".
