By IANS,
Jammu : Normal life came to standstill here Monday due to a shutdown called by the Central University Andolan Samiti (CUAS) — a conglomerate of social, political and student groups — to demand that a central university be set up in the Jammu region and not the Kashmir valley.
All shops and business establishments remained closed, vehicles were off the roads, and government offices reported thin attendance due to the shutdown.
The shutdown caused difficulties for pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine as there were no vehicles to carry them to the base camp of the shrine in Katra, 45 km north of here.
The CUAS is asking the government to either begin setting up the central university in Samba, 40 km south west of Jammu, or to give in writing that the varsity will be first set up in the Jammu region and then in Kashmir.
After the union government announced that such a university will be established in Jammu and Kashmir, the state government had identified a place close to Samba for the site of the institution. But later there was a proposal to open it in Kashmir.
“It (central university) should have been set up in Jammu as a natural sequel to the central government’s decision to establish it in the region. Jammu students are agitating for their rights and we are supporting them,” Pavitar Singh, convenor of CUAS, told IANS.