Protesters shot dead in Kashmir
Protests over land erupted in June
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At least seven people were killed and many injured when security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir opened fire on stone-throwing Muslim protesters.
Thousands defied a curfew in Srinagar and other towns in the mainly Muslim Kashmir valley for a second day. One person died in clashes in Jammu region.
The curfew was imposed ahead of the burial of a senior separatist who died after police opened fire on Monday.
Tensions are rising and threaten peace hopes after years of relative calm.
The BBC’s Chris Morris in Delhi says Kashmir has now become dangerously polarized, in a dispute which began over the control of a small piece of land.
Protests and counter-protests have been taking place for weeks in the Kashmir valley, and in the mainly Hindu region around the city of Jammu further south.
The demonstrations in the valley are some the biggest since a separatist rebellion against Indian rule broke out nearly 20 years ago.
‘Freedom’
Security forces opened fire on Tuesday on a number of protests by Muslims who defied the curfew.
The army fired to disperse a procession in the northern district of Bandipora, killing three people and injuring five. Three other people were killed in the Lasjan and Rainawari areas.
“We have imposed a curfew to ensure the peaceful burial of Sheikh Aziz,” local police chief Kuldeep Khuda told reporters.
In the Jammu region, one person was killed and more than a dozen injured after Hindus and Muslims clashed in the town of Kishtwar. Houses, vehicles and other property were damaged before police opened fire to restore order.
No other violence has been reported from the Jammu region.
Sheikh Aziz was a prominent leader of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella of separatist groups which opposes Indian rule.
His body has been kept in a mosque in Srinagar. Mourners have stayed with the body and shouted slogans like “We want freedom”.
The police said they were trying to find out why security forces opened fire on the protesters on Monday.
Police say several of their personnel were injured by stones thrown by those at the protest.
Pilgrims
Sheikh Aziz was among thousands of protesters who marched on Monday towards the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border with Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
The violence is spreading
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They were supporting fruit growers who wanted to sell their produce. Muslims say Hindus in the state are blockading a key highway that links the Kashmir valley with the rest of India.
The government, which denies the blockade, says lorries are moving between the two regions with security escorts.
Hindus have protested for weeks since the authorities scrapped plans to transfer land to a Hindu trust.
With the highway blocked for days, the Muslim fruit growers have complained that their produce is rotting.
The land row started when the state government said it would grant 99 acres (40 hectares) of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board to be used by Hindu pilgrims.
Muslims launched violent protests, saying the allocation of land was aimed at altering the demographic balance in the area.
But following days of protests, the government rescinded the order, prompting Hindu groups to mount violent protests of their own.
More than 20 people – Muslims and Hindus – have been killed and hundreds wounded in clashes with police since the unrest began.
If the blockade continues it will be a disaster for us 
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