Thousands of armed police are being deployed to guard holidaymakers in the Indian state of Goa after a group campaigning against industrial parks warned all tourists to leave by the end of the week or face violent protests.

The state government said that it had mobilised 6,000 officers to patrol beaches and resorts – packed with foreign tourists, including many Britons – before a demonstration tomorrow. The state’s palm-fringed beaches attract 400,000 visitors in the peak season between October and March and are at their busiest over the new year. “Full security will be provided. There is no reason to worry,” Digambar Kamat, the chief minister of Goa, said.

Tomorrow’s protest is only one of a recent series around India against the conversion of farmland into Chinese-style special economic zones with perks for foreign investors.

In the worst example, 30 people have been killed since January in a village in the state of West Bengal, where local authorities tried to force farmers to sell their land to make way for a chemical plant.

The Indian Government froze plans for hundreds of such zones in March but began approving them again in June and published new rules in October designed to ensure adequate compensation for farmers.

The Government of Goa has approved seven zones that it says will help to attract foreign investment, boost tax revenues and create jobs for the former Portuguese enclave’s population of 1.4 million. But Goa’s main opposition parties and other activists say that the zones will damage the region’s fragile ecosystem and ultimately hurt the tourist industry, the mainstay of the local economy. Armed police have also been deployed to the eastern state of Orissa after Hindu activists burnt 12 churches on Christmas Day, leaving one man dead and 30 injured. Police imposed a curfew on Kandhamal district to control the violence, sparked by the reported injury of a Hindu leader by a Christian group.

Activists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) accused Christian missionaries of forcing poor Indians to convert to Christianity. The Catholic leadership of India denied the charge and urged the Government to protect the community.

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