The shutdown call by Jammu Peoples Parties Forum, a combination of 38 outfits, demanding the appointment of a local candidate as the vice-chancellor of the central university evoked partial to near-total response on Saturday.
Shops and other business establishments remained closed and a rally was taken out to press for the demand.
“We have enough talent in Jammu to be chosen for the vice-chancellor’s post,” Uday Chand, a leader of the forum, told a rally here.
The shutdown call was triggered by reports that Amitabh Mattoo, professor in New Delhi’s Jawahar Lal Nehru University, had been appointed as the vice-chancellor of the central university. But no formal order has yet been issued.
Mattoo, a member of the National Knowledge Commission, a high-level advisory group attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, served as the V-C of the state university here for six years from November 2002 to December 2008. Early last year, the controversy over setting up a central university erupted in the state, as the Kashmir Valley was chosen for setting up the university.