Kashmir shutdown protests India's new land laws

SRINAGAR, Oct 31 (AP): Shops and businesses were shut in several parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday as separatists challenging Indian rule called for a general strike to denounce new laws that allow any Indians to buy land in the disputed region.

Government forces in riot gear patrolled streets in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar in anticipation of anti-India protests. Public transport also stayed off the roads.

Kashmir's main separatist grouping called the strike to protest new land laws that India enacted on Monday, allowing any of its nationals to buy or its military to directly acquire land in the region. Pro-India politicians in Kashmir have also criticized the laws and accused India of putting the region's land up for sale.

The new legislation ended or modified most laws that governed local land rights. It also abolished 1950s land reform laws that redistributed large patches of land to landless farmers.

The move has exacerbated concerns of Kashmiris and rights groups who see such measures as a settler-colonial project to change the Muslim-majority region's demography.