Srinagar, Kashmir - One person was killed and three injured as an Indian paramilitary force fired on protestors Thursday in the heart of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's northern Jammu and Kashmir state, officials and witnesses said.

The gunfire broke a brief early morning calm after a night that saw thousands of people defying a curfew and rallying after local television reports said security forces had stormed houses and beat up residents, including women.

At least 23 people - all Muslims - have been killed in the region over the past three days and more than 400 injured as security forces attempted to break up demonstrations over a land row that took an anti-Indian turn.

The protestors attacked police and government property, the police said.

India and Pakistan exchanged words over the situation in Kashmir with India reacting angrily to remarks by Pakistan's leaders that security forces were using excessive force against protestors in India-administered Kashmir and that they would take up the matter with the United Nations.

"To call for international involvement in the sovereign internal affairs of India is gratuitous, illegal and reflects revision to a mindset that has led to no good consequence for Pakistan in the past," Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in a statement Wednesday.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday condemned what he called a violation of human rights in India-administered Kashmir, saying Pakistanis stood by their brethren in Kashmir.

"Kashmir runs in the blood of each Pakistani," Musharraf said at a cultural show marking Pakistan's 61st Independence Day.

The disputed Kashmir region is divided into two parts, one administered by Pakistan and the other by India. The South Asian neighbours have fought two wars over the region.

India-administered Kashmir has seen a violent secessionist movement that peaked in the late 1980s and has left more than 40,000 people dead. India accuses Pakistan of aiding Kashmiri militants, but Islamabad denies the charge, calling them freedom fighters.

The recent protests saw Kashmiri separatist leaders leading a protest march of fruit growers toward the line of control, the de-facto border that divides the two parts of Kashmir, against a blockade of the upper valley by Hindu protestors in the south.

Indian television channels on Thursday showed aerial views of trucks and vehicles moving on the road from Jammu town to Srinagar, which the protestors said has been blocked.

The row over the allotment of land to a Hindu cave shrine in the upper reaches of Kashmir, followed by a cancellation of the order, sparked the recent violent, communalized protests across the region that have left 40 people dead.

Thousands of people rushed onto the streets of Srinagar around midnight Wednesday, shouting slogans of "We want freedom" and criticizing the paramilitary forces.

They returned home after separatist Hurriyat leaders, who are leading the agitation, and senior government officials appeared on local television requesting them to maintain peace and return home.

"We will observe Friday as a black day," Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani said, referring to the day that is also India's Independence Day. (dpa)