KOHIMA, India — Baptists have tried to intervene in the tribal warfare between the Karbi and Dimasa tribes in northeast India. Baptists have a history of working with both of these groups through Baptist World Alliance (BWA). The latest conflict has left at least 120 people dead, and 500 people have had their houses burned. There are an estimated 30,000 refugees. Wati Aier, president of the Oriental Theological Seminary (OTS) in Nagaland and a vice president of the Asian Baptist Federation (ABF), is bringing relief and Christian compassion to those in need.
Faculty and students of OTS in Dimapur visited the victims of the ethnic clashes, helped deliver some of the deceased to relatives and carried food and other supplies. Their concern now is that with winter coming, the refugees are in urgent need of more help.
The situation deteriorated with the tension of the Karbi people over their educational systems. According to some reports, there are also underlying religious tensions. In 1996, BWA leaders were part of a huge Festival of Hope at Diphu, the headquarters of the Karbi Anglong autonomous district of Assam State. More than 25,000 people attended the meetings and 300 were baptized.
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