SRINAGAR, INDIA - THE chief minister of Indian Kashmir announced his resignation on Monday in the wake of a wave of violent protests over his government's decision to give land in the Muslim region to Hindu pilgrims.

The government of Ghulam Nabi Azad lost its majority on June 28 when a key ally, the People's Democratic Party, pulled out of his Congress-led ruling alliance.

The PDP withdrew after angry protests over the transfer of forest land to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board - a trust that manages an annual Hindu pilgrimage to the mountain cave shrine of Amarnath.

The state governor had asked Mr Azad to prove his majority in the house on Monday. But before the house could vote to ascertain whether Mr Azad had the required members to rule the state, he decided to resign.

'I am going to the governor's house to tender my resignation,' Mr Azad told the house after a fiery speech blaming both Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists for the crisis.

'People do politics in the name of religion and take the innocent public towards destruction,' said Mr Azad.

The governor has accepted Mr Azad's resignation 'but has asked him to continue as caretaker chief minister until an alternate arrangement is put in place,' a government source said.

In the coming days the state is all set to come under direct federal rule, the third time since the eruption of an insurgency against Indian-rule in 1989.

The revocation of the order for land ownership led to protests by angry Hindus in southern Jammu region, where they are concentrated, and other areas.

In Jammu, residents distributed sweets and burst crackers in some parts as the news of the resignation poured in, witnesses said.

Separatists say the land transfer was a ploy to settle Indian Hindus in insurgency-hit Kashmir, which is held in part by nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, but claimed by both in full. -- AFP