Move to intensify 'repression': Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 11. The military government in Pakistan has criticised the decision of the Farooq Abdullah Government to extend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to the Jammu region and said it would ``further intensify'' repression.

In a press statement today, the Pakistan Foreign Office said the decision was ``further evidence of the policy of brutal repression against the popular freedom struggle in Jammu and Kashmir''.

``This black law, which has been applied to the Kashmir valley for over a decade, gives licence to the Indian armed forces to shoot and kill people at will. The Government of Pakistan condemns this decision which will further intensify repression and human rights violations by the Indian occupation forces in Jammu and Kashmir'', the statement said.

Quoting the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, it said seven lakh Indian military, paramilitary and police forces had massacred more than 75,000 innocent Kashmiris since 1989. ``The Indian reign of terror has brutalised the people of the `occupied' State. The daily occurrence of custodial and extra- judicial killings, torture, rape and arson have been documented by international human rights organisations and international media'', the statement said.

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