Indian Christians played a significant role in India’s freedom movement. In fact, they were the harbingers of Indian National consciousness. But sadly, while the role of the Hindus and Muslims is recognised and hailed, the contributions made by the Indian Christians are either ignored or sidelined in the margins of history.
The first Christian organisation which played a role in awakening the national consciousness–the ‘Bengal Christian Association’–was founded in 1878 by a group of Christians in Calcutta. Led by K M Banerji, who served as the President, the group was focused on creating public awareness about independence and nationalism.
A decade later, in 1885, the Indian National Congress (INC) was formed. It signalled the beginning of an organised movement for independence. The next year, in 1886, an Indian medical doctor, S.Parani Andy, and a group of Indian Christians in Madras, founded the ‘National Church of Madras.’ In 1887, KC Banerji and Shome formed the “Calcutta Christo Samaj.” In 1892, the “Poona Christians Association” and the “Lucknow Christians Association” were formed. All these organisations–though they were started to address the challenges facing the Christians–championed a spirit of nationalism and mobilised Indian Christians to support the struggle for freedom. All of them had one common goal: Indian union, freedom and independence.
Right from the mid nineteenth-century, Indian Christians actively propagated the idea of political independence. Many of them attended the INC’s annual meetings and championed the call for freedom from colonial rule. In 1887, for instance, at the Madras assembly of the INC, 35 of the 607 registered delegates were Indian Christians. Indian Christians actively took part in the INC’s next four sessions–from 1888 to 1891. People like K C Banerji, C.G. Nath from Lahore, and Peter Paul Pillai from Madras played major roles in the INC.
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