1.
Introduction
India gained
Independence from the British colonial power sixty years ago. Her achievement
of Independence was a result of about a century's struggle by the people. The
struggle for freedom was not an involvement of few people but rather it was a
people's movement where every section of people played their roles. The Indian
national movement has a long history. As a matter of fact, it began with the
Revolt of 1857. The Revolt had been called as Sepoy Mutiny, by the British
people, but many Indians considered it as the first war of India's
Independence. However, the actual struggle for freedom began with the formation
of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885.[1]
The period between the Revolt of 1857 till the formation of the INC in 1885 was
marked by a rapid growth of national consciousness for political freedom. With
the formation of INC the National
struggle
became an organized movement.
2.
Causes for the Rise of Nationalism
2.1
Christianity and Western Education
Christianity and western education are closely
related. With the coming of William Carey in 1793 and Dr. Alexander Duff in
1930 to Calcutta there was a
spread of western education. They opened the first Anglo-Vernacular School for
the youths of other faiths.3Christianity and education challenged the
superstitious beliefs and the existing social evils. Thus, they initiated the
socio-religious reformation in the country. English education also helped the
Indian elites to get the idea of western Liberalism. Besides, the Indian elites
got the inspiration for National struggle through the readings of the histories
of the American War of Independence, French Revolution, etc.[2]
English language also served as a lingua franca for the whole educated
Indians which unified the people. Thus, Christianity and education contributed
for the rise of nationalism.
2.2
The Socio-Religious Movements
The first and foremost rationalizing effect of
English education was the questioning of the existing socio religious
practices. Raja Rammohan Roy was the first and the best representative of this
new spirit of rational inquiry into the basis of religion and society. He
refuted the worship of multiple gods and goddesses and advocated the worship of
one true God. He was the founder of the Brahma Samaj in 1828. Roy was against
the social evil practices and it was through the joint cooperation of the
missionaries that certain practices were abolished. Another movement was the Arya
Samaj" which was founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati at Bombay, in 1975.
He rejected the caste system and proclaimed the rights of everybody to study
the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. The Ramakrishna mission and the
Theosophical Society. spearheaded the reform movements. Thus, all these
movements glorified the Hindu society and religion which created a national
consciousness as against the foreign religion and rule. Besides, the
development of press enabled the writers to spread the national consciousness
through the periodicals and news papers in both English and regional languages.[3] The
Samachar Darpan, Bengal Gazette, Weekly Madras Courier, Bombay Herald were
some of the publications through which Indian writers expressed their views on
socio-political, economic, religious ideas and thus spread the national
consciousness throughout the country.
3.
Christians' Involvement in the Indian National Movement
Indian
Christians responded to the calls of national movement through their various Christian
organizations. These Christian organizations arranged conferences, camps in
which several issues were discussed including political issues. At times
political problems were debated, passed resolutions and sent to the concerned
authorities, and thereby the Indian Christians voices were made heard. The
first Christian organization which had played a role in the national movement was
the 'Bengal Christian Association' founded in 1878; by a group of Christians in
Calcutta with a view to create a national, independent Indian Church. The first
president of this association was Krishna Mohan Banerji and one of its active
members was Kali Charan Banerji. In 1887, K. C Banerji formed the Calcutta Christo
Samaj which was a Christian parallel to the Brahmo Samaj.[4]
Its purpose was for the propagation of Christian truth and promotion of
Christian union. Its confession was the Apostolic Creed. In 1886, the National
Church of Madras was founded by an Indian medical doctor Parani Andy with a
group of Indian Christians in Madras. In 1892, the Lucknow Christian
Association' was formed and also the Puna Christians Association.[5] Those
Associations were primarily set up to deal with the social and economic
problems of the Christian community.
4.
Young Men's Christian Associations (YMCA) and others
Several YMCAs had been formed under the leadership
or initiative of the missionaries in various parts of the country such as Calcutta
in 1857, Bombay in 1875, etc… When the National YMCA was organized in 1891,
there were 35 YMCAs in the country with a total of 1896 members. V.S. Azariah,
K.T. Paul and . S.K. Datta were the prominent leaders. It did not directly involved
in politics as it was run by the financial support of foreign donors beside an
evangelistic agency. Its pericidical The Young Men of India was used to
express even political ideas; and thereby promoted national consciousness among
the Indian Christians during the national movement.[6]
5.
Formation of Indian National Congress (INC)
The formation of Indian National Congress opened a
new era in the political life of India. It was formed under the leadership of
Allan Octavian Hume, a retired member of the Indian civil service. The INC was
the continuation of the various political organizations throughout the country
and especially the National Conference held
in 1883. Perhaps, A.O. Hume could be better known as an organizer rather
than the founder. W.C Banerji became the first president of the INC in 1885.
The objectives of the Indian National Congress were: (a) To promote personal
intimacy' and friendship among the mere earnest workers in the cause of the
country in various parts of the empire. (b) To eradicate the race, creed, and
provincial prejudices among the lovers of the country and the fuller
development and consolidation of those sentiments of national unity that had
their origin in their beloved Lord Ripon's memorable reign. (c) To make an
authoritative record after a careful and full discussion on some of the most
important and pressing social questions of the day.[7] It
shows that the main objective of the INC at the time was not for political Independence,
but was rather concerned, for the economic and social problems of the time.
5.1
Indian Christians Participation in INC
The Indian
Christians' involvement was by and large conditioned by the attitudes of the
missionaries towards the national movement or the INC. In the early years of
the INC, Indian Christians enthusiastically supported the National Congress and
attended its annual meetings. According to the official congress report, there
were 607 registered delegates at the Madras meeting in 1887, and there were 35
Christians.[8]
The Indian Christians well represented at the next four sessions of the
Congress from 1888-1891. Kali Charan Banerji, C.G. Nath from Lahore, Peter Paul
Pillai of Madras played important roles in the Congress sessions. It is also
interesting to note that some Christian women were present at the Bombay
session of 1888 when women attended for the first time. Among the ten women
delegates who participated in the session, there were three Christian women
namely, Pandita Ramabai, Mesdames Trimbuck and Nikamba. The early attitude of missionaries towards
the INC had been stated by T.E. Slater at the Bangalore missionary conference
of 1888 as: “Apart from its political aims, the Congress is in its very
constitution a moral and social educator of the greatest value, and as such
should be welcomed and supported by every missionary.”[9]
However, there were some missionaries who were against the national politics
and urged the Indian Christians not to participate in the Congress.
Ø There
are some individual Christians who actively participated in the national movement
such as Kali Charan Banerji, who was
a leader of the Bengali Christian community and was an eminent scholar. He
became a prominent figure in the Indian National Congress in the early years of
its formation.
Ø Brahmabandav Upadhyaya:
According to C.Fonseca, Upadhyaya was the first of the national leaders to
suggest complete independence for India. He actively participated in the
boycott and swadeshi movement; it following the partition of Bengal in 1905. He
was one of the early architects of India's independence and in many ways a
forerunner of Mahatma Gandhij.
Ø K.T. Paul:
He was one of the prominent Indian Christian leaders. He took the positive
approach to the national movement and as such did not agree with the policy of
aloofness from the Congress and nationalist movement. While many other Christians
were keeping aloof, he encouraged the Indian Christians to actively participate
in the Congress and national struggle. He attended the Second Round Table
Conference in London, in 1931 on behalf of the Indian Christians. He played a great
role in the national movement.
Ø V.S. Azariah:
He was the first Indian national elevated to the Anglican episcopate. He stood
for the unity of the country and as such was against the provision of separate electorate
on the basis of communities. He defended the Christian cause for conversion
against Gandhiji's criticism. He became the president of NCCI and raised his
voice for freedom and encouraged
Ø Besides,
leaders like S.K. George, P. Chenchiah, V. Chakkarai, S.K. Mukeerji and others
also contributed considerably to the national movement.
6.
Conclusion
The history of
India from the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries was
a history of the national struggle for freedom. We have also noted that there were
several factors for the rise of nationalism. In the courses of the national movement,
the Indian Christians had raised their voices through different organizations
and sometimes as individuals. The Indian Christians as a Church did not
participate in the national movement. However, there were quite a good number of
Indian Christians who had made valuable contributions towards the national movement
for freedom.
Bibliography
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[1] Hiren Mukerjee, India's
Struggle for Freedom, (Calcutta, National Book Agency Pvt. Ltd., 1962),
.62.
[2] R.C. Mujumdar, History of the
Freedom Movement in India, Vol. 1, (Calcutta: Firma K.L.Mukhopadhyay,
1971), 286.
[3] V.S. Azariah, India and the
Christian Movement, (Madras: CLSI, 1936), 65.
[4] Kaj Baago, "The first
Independence Movement Among Indian Christians", Indian Church History
Review, Vol.
1, No.l, (1967), 65.
[5] La1chhuanliana," A Study
of Indian Christians Involvement in the political Developments in India from
1885 to 1947" (Unpublished M.Th. Thesis, Bangalore: UTC, 1973),.73.
[6] William Harper, "The
Christian Church and the National Congress", The Harvest Field, Vol.1,
No.3, (1890), 365.
[7] P.N. Chopra, A Century of
Indian National Congress: 1885-1985,
(Delhi: Agam Prakashan, 1986), 25.
[8] G.A. Oddie, "Indian
Christians and the National Congress, 1885-1910" Indian Church History
Review, Vol. 11. No. 1, (1968), 45.
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