SRINAGAR—
Hundreds of angry protesters clashed with Indian authorities on Tuesday at the funeral of a young man killed during a demonstration in Indian-held Kashmir. Separatists called for a daylong strike in the tense Himalayan territory.
Shouting “Go India, Go back!” and “We want freedom,” the funeral protesters hurled stones at law enforcement officials while marching toward a highway near the village of Palhalan where Farooq Ahmed Bhat was being buried.
Police fired tear gas while paramilitary troops tried to block the march. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Officials said Bhat, a student, was killed when government forces fired to stop stone-throwing protesters in Palhalan, north of the main city of Srinagar, during a day of protests Monday across the region to mark the two-year anniversary of a former rebel’s secret hanging in New Delhi.
Local residents said, however, that Bhat was standing near his home and was not part of the anti-India protest.
Shops and businesses were shuttered Tuesday in Srinagar, where authorities clamped a curfew in old quarters and law enforcement officials patrolled deserted streets. More than 100 anti-India activists remained in custody, after being detained over the weekend as part of efforts to control Monday’s planned protests. University exams were canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Kashmiris were incensed in 2013 when Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged in secret in a New Delhi jail. Many in the mostly Muslim territory believe Guru was not given a fair trial on charges of involvement in a 2001 attack on Parliament that killed 14 people, including five gunmen.
Guru had fought earlier with rebels in an armed uprising that began in 1989 and resulted in an estimated 68,000 people being killed, both in the uprising and ensuing Indian crackdown.
Anti-India separatists have long demanded either independence or a merger with neighboring Pakistan. India and Pakistan each administer a portion of Kashmir. Both claim the region in its entirety.
Separatists have called for another strike on Wednesday to mark the 1984 hanging of pro-independence leader Mohammed Maqbool Butt, who was executed for killing an intelligence officer. The separatists want the remains of both Guru and Butt, now buried at the New Delhi jail, to be returned to the region for burial.
