Police help end Christians’ social isolation in Indian village

The police and administrative intervention helped end the social isolation that Hindus had imposed on a group of Christians in a village in Odisha, India, a police official has confirmed. The one-month social boycott was lifted at a meeting of government officials, police, and some 60 villagers on June 24 in Rangamati of Keonjhar district, said Prasant Kumar Behera, sub-divisional police officer. “We told the leaders and villagers nobody wants fights and violence between the Hindus and Christians and igniting the spark with frivolous issues,” he told UCA News on June 26. The boycott has been lifted with Hindu leaders promising “that there will be no violence or aggression,” he added. The Hindus imposed a social boycott on a total of 23 Christian families after they allegedly refused to abandon their faith and return to their “original Hindu religion.” The social isolation meant that Christian was denied access to all shared facilities in the village, including the village well and grocery stores. The villagers also refused to hire them for work in the farmlands. It prompted Christians to seek assistance from the police. Christian leaders say that violence against Christians has risen since the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took power last May. Hindu groups that support the BJP consider the political gain a mandate to push for their idea of making India a Hindu nation, they say. Police officer Behera said government officials and police “sensitized villagers” that the national constitution recognizes rights of every citizen and attempts to take laws into their own hands can trigger punitive measures.