All India Conference of Indian Christians

[1] The All India Conference of Indian Christians held its first meeting on 28 December 1914 and was led by Raja Sir Harnam Singh of Kapurthala, who was the president of the National Missionary Society (NMS); the first AICIC General Secretary was B. L. Rallia Ram of Lahore.

During the period from its inception up until about 1892 all the evidence suggests that Indian Christians enthusiastically supported the National Congress and attended its annual meetings.

[8] In 1923, K. T. Paul from Salem became the president of the All India Conference of Indian Christians; he brought with him a rejection of racism, opposition to foreign missionary control, a service orientation, and a friendly approach towards people of other faiths.

Dewick, a Christian missionary from Great Britain, commented on the role of Indian Christians in the Indian independence movement:[6] The old traditions of loyalty to the British Raj, and the imitation of the West in dress and social customs have steadily been giving place to a much more nationalistic outlook, and to the expressions of this in national costume and national habits.

A growing number of the younger Indian Christians have been gathering to raise their voices in criticism of the British Government, and have joined with their Hindu friends in the No-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements.

[6] In 1932, Aloysius Soares promoted the concept in the Catholic journal Week that minority communities should be protected in the Constitution of India and bill of rights.

[6] Catholic and Protestant leaders met in Poona in October 1932 and endorsed this, approving Soares' Fundamental Rights, which began: "Every person in the Indian Federation or Commonwealth shall be free to profess and practise his religion, including the right to make conversions, and, subject to public order and morality, exercise acts of public worship.

[6] P. Chenchiah and other Indian Christian leaders saw the interests of Christians, Hindus and Muslims as being the same, holding that "a stronger sense of national identity, far from threatening the sense of religious identity, could be seen as enriching and complementary, and as providing further outlets for good will and collaboration in the newly emerging and all-embracing nation state.

[2][11] On 24 March 1947 and 25 March 1947, the Honourable Dr. John Mathai, a member of the interim government, presided over the 27th session of the All India Conference of Indian Christians, with national leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Sarojini Naidu and B. G. Kher delivering speeches.