NEW DELHI, May 3 (UPI) -- The Indian government has said the Jammu terror strikes will not be allowed to disrupt the Kashmir peace process.
"We would not allow the perpetrators of the attack to succeed in their aim to disturb peace and tranquility. Efforts to find peace in the state would continue and such (terror) attacks would not deter us," said Indian Interior Minister Shivraj Patil.
"Events in the recent past clearly give a signal and point to the larger designs of the country's enemy," he said, adding the holy city of Varanasi and the grand mosque of Jama Masjid had been attacked with the aim of dividing Indians. The Jammu terror attacks, he said, are part of the same process.
"We have no doubt that a secular country like ours would give a befitting reply to the people who are behind these acts by maintaining peace and tranquility. People have long understood the designs of the perpetrators of these attacks," Patil said.
The minister visited the Jammu region of the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where militants slaughtered 35 Hindus. He was accompanied by Interior Secretary Vinod Kumar Duggal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, chief minister of the province, and other senior officials.
A number of security changes were to be implemented following the attacks, Patil said. The weapons given to special police officers are to be improved, the number of village defense committees is to be increased and villagers will be provided with arms.
Patil rejected the separatist groups' demand of temporary demilitarization, saying the time for such action had not yet come.
