{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 180,
  "chapterName": "1943. Raja Sir Maharaj Singh’s Presidential Address to the All-India Conference of Indian Christians",
  "pageFrom": 373,
  "pageTo": 373,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 373,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n373\n180. RAJA SIR MAHARAJ SINGH'S PRESIDENTIAL\nADDRESS TO THE ALL-INDIA CONFERENCE OF INDIAN\nCHRISTIANS (1943 A.D.)\nIn his address to the A.I.C.I.C. conference of 1943, Raja Sir Maha-\nraj Singh, the first Governor of Bombay following Independence,\naffirms the commitment of the Indian Christian community to the\nnationalist cause and pleads for fair treatment from the majority\ncommunities. Cited in Indian Witness, Vol. 73, No. 12, March 25,\n1943, p. 91.\nWe are behind no other community in our burning desire for a\nself-governing India in the immediate future. We are nationalists\nas much as any one else. We have no sympathy with the existing\nideology of Empire or its attendent evil, namely, the colour bar.\nWhile we are Christians and proud to be such so far as our faith is\nconcerned, in all other matters we are Indians first and Indians\nlast. There is no antithesis between religion and patriotism, for a\ntrue Christian must be a good patriot. Indian Christians are\nready to place their country above communal considerations. In\nmore than one public statement they have offered to part with\nseparate electorates and to ask for no special privileges. Their\naim is to live in peace with both their Hindu and Muslim fellow\ncitizens. Indian Christians wish to take their full share in the\npolitical and civic life of the country. Many including myself are\nmembers of the All-India Liberal Federation, a political body\nwhich welcomes adherents from every community and creed. The\nCongress is also composed of persons of different faiths and has\nIndian Christian members. So have the non-party political confe-\nrences. We should not forgo any opportunity of serving our\ncountry and through our country our community in being active\nmembers of legislatures or in joining political associations, attending\npolitical meetings and, above all, as a bridge community doing our\nutmost to narrow the gulf specially in times of communal tension\nbetween the two principal communities of India. At the same\ntime we earnestly request our Hindu and Muslim compatriots to\ntreat us and specially our poorer brethren with justice and even\ngenerosity. That surely should be the attitude of the strong to-\nwards the weak. All of us here have intimate friends in other\ncommunities and we appreciate these pleasant relations. As a\nnotable instance of good will I may cite the case recently reported\nto me of a donation of Rs. 10,000 made by a Hindu gentleman of\nAllahabad for scholarships to Indian Christian students. If posts\nunder Government or local bodies are obtainable only on the\ngrounds of merits we can have no objection but where, as so often\nhappens, appointments are at least in part made on communal\nconsiderations, Indian Christians feel that as the largest group",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}