Srinagar: Separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir called for a shut down of schools and businesses on Saturday to protest a Government move to lease land for tourist resorts to people living outside the state.
Most schools and colleges were closed for the day and very few vehicles plied the roads. No violence was reported.
People living outside Jammu and Kashmir are prohibited from buying land in the region because of its special status in the Indian Constitution.
Last month, the Central Government announced that it plans to lease prime land to people living outside the state to develop the popular tourist resort of Gulmarg.
The state's tourism minister, Dilawar Mir, said the plan was aimed at building up the tourist infrastructure to international standards and boosting Kashmir's economy, which has been crippled by terrorism since 1989.
The move immediately drew protests from separatist groups, which called for the shutdown. The state government later backed away from the proposal, but the shutdown went ahead anyway.
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