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Appeal for calm as violence in western India claims 300 lives

The Indian Prime Minister has issued a national statement calling for calm in the wake of the worst communal violence in a decade.

South Asia correspondent Jonathan Harley reports, clashes between Muslims and Hindus in the western state of Gujarat have claimed more than 300 lives.

"In an address on state run television Atal Behari Vajpayee has described the religous violence which has wracked the western state of Gujarat as a disgrace to the nation. He's appealed to all people to keep calm, whatever the provocation. It's the first televised appeal of its kind the Indian Prime Minister has made since 58 Hindu activists were massacred on a train on Wednesday sparking the widespread violence across Gujarat."

02/03/2002 22:26:20 | ABC Radio Australia News

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