Mennonite Weekly Review

AKRON, Pa. — In the wake of widespread violence against Christians in India’s Orissa state, Mennonite Central Committee is helping to provide training for peacemakers.

One of them is Prabhudutt Nayak, a Christian social worker striving to defuse tensions between Orissa’s ethnic and religious groups.

Nayak is a program manager with Asha Kiran Society, an Indian organization that MCC supports in carrying out agricultural development and primary health care projects in Orissa.

After the Aug. 23 assassination of a Hindu religious leader, longstanding tensions in Orissa boiled to the surface. Rioters blamed Christians for the leader’s death and burned thousands of houses, killed scores of people and caused an estimated 50,000 Christians to flee their homes.

Nayak’s parents were among the displaced, and his family members are still unable to return to their village. But rather than treating Hindus as his enemies, Nayak is convening forums for Hindu and Christian religious leaders, as well as government representatives, to discuss tensions in their communities.

“We talk about the type of violence that is taking place and how we can prevent it,” Nayak said.

One such gathering brought together about 50 people in Koraput district in December, and another is planned for this month.

Nayak said he is using the skills he learned as a student at two international schools of peace and reconciliation several years ago — Henry Martyn Institute in India and Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute in the Philippines.

MCC sponsored Nayak’s studies as part of an effort to provide training to people working for peace in Orissa.

In 2008, MCC sponsored a Brethren in Christ student from Orissa to attend the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute. This month MCC is sponsoring another two students from Orissa — one Christian and one Hindu — to attend the institute.