At least 13 people were killed and scores injured in Indian-administered Kashmir yesterday when police fired into crowds of protesters in Srinagar, the summer capital.

Tens of thousands had defied a military curfew to join the funeral procession of Sheikh Abdul Aziz, the separatist leader who was shot dead by police on Monday as he led a huge pro-independence march. Similar protests were reported across Kashmir.

The unrest comes amid a sharp deterioration of relations in Kashmir between the state’s dominant Muslim population and its Hindus, who are a majority in every other Indian state.

Elsewhere in Srinagar, crowds overwhelmed armed police to break the house arrest of Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, the head of the Hurriyat Conference, an influential coalition of separatist parties at the forefront of the opposition against Indian rule. Mr Farooq then led an angry procession of thousands that made its way to the Jamia Masjid, Kashmir’s largest mosque, where Sheikh Aziz’s body was held.

Hundreds of mourners had wailed over the body through the night, chanting: “Freedom for Kashmir”. Mr Farooq told The Times of Sheikh Aziz’s death: “This was a targeted killing, an assassination. No water cannon were used to disperse the crowd, no rubber bullets. Blood was spilt by the authorities like water.”

He demanded that trade routes with Pakistan that have been closed since Partition in 1947 be opened, a move that would reduce Kashmir’s economic dependence on Indian markets.

Relations between the two nuclear powers, between whom Kashmir is divided, worsened when Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Pakistani Foreign Minister, condemned excessive force by Indian security forces against Muslim protesters.

Mr Qureshi said that he had “learnt with great sorrow and grief” of the martyrdom of Sheikh Aziz. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs criticised the comments as unhelpful.

The burial of Sheikh Aziz, held in the Martyrs Graveyard in Srinagar, passed relatively peacefully. The security forces looked to minimise their presence – though mourners’ prayers battled with the drone of an Indian army helicopter.

Violence was reported across the Himalayan state. Three people were shot dead in the town of Bandipora, about 40 miles from Srinagar. Another demonstrator was killed by police in Kishtwar in the south of Kashmir. Two were killed in Jammu, the Hindu-dominated winter capital, according to a security forces.

The disturbances follow a row over a gift of land to a Hindu shrine by the state government in June. The order was rescinded, triggering protests by Hindus that have included a blockade of the only highway running to the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley.

Muhammad Yaseen Malik, the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front said: “The use of brute force [by police] makes it clear that Indian democracy and its so-called secularism are eyewash for Kashmiris.” In Delhi, Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, called for fresh talks to be held after discussions between political parties last week failed to make progress.

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