While the Government and the RSS continued with their efforts to work out the details of a ‘‘compromise formula’’ for the VHP, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, in a strong signal to the Sangh Parivar, called the current carnage in Gujarat a ‘‘kalank (disgrace)’’ on the nation’s image.
He said that the burning alive of people, including women and children, in Godhra, Ahmedabad and other places in the state had damaged India’s reputation in the international community. ‘‘Whatever the provocation, people should maintain peace and exercise restraint,’’ he said in an address to the nation. And said he was confident that the way the country had overcome past crises, in this one, too, people of all communities would work with authorities to create peace and harmony.