The All India Conference of Indian Christians (AICIC) is an ecumenical organisation founded in 1914 to represent the interests of Christians in India.[1] It was founded to advocate for the moral, economic, and intellectual development of the Indian Christian community.[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.[2][3] Its creation united local and regional Indian Christian Associations, which existed in Bombay, Madras, Hyderabad, Punjab, United Provinces, Bengal and Burma, under one umbrella organisation.[2] At the time of the Indian independence movement, the organisation allied itself with the Indian National Congress and the resolutions passed by All India Conference of Indian Christians advocated communal harmony, while also pressing for the rights of Christians in both colonial India and independent India.[2] The India Conference of Indian Christians advocated for self-rule in a united and independent country, opposing the partition of India.[2] During the era of the British Raj in India, the AICIC served as the mouthpiece for members of the Indian Christian community, conducting membership drives to boost its base, which included Protestant and Catholic Christians.[4][5] As such, the presidents of the AICIC represented the Christians of undivided India at the Round Table Conferences.[4]
- ^ a b Foreign Missions Year Book of North America 1919–. Committee of Reference and Counsel of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, Incorporated. 1919. p. 33.
- ^ a b c d Thomas, Abraham Vazhayil (1974). Christians in Secular India. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 106-110. ISBN 978-0-8386-1021-3.
- ^ Chatterjee, N. (2011). The Making of Indian Secularism: Empire, Law and Christianity, 1830-1960. Springer. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-230-29808-8.
- ^ a b Black, Brian; Hyman, Gavin; Smith, Graham M. (2014). Confronting Secularism in Europe and India: Legitimacy and Disenchantment in Contemporary Times. A&C Black. p. 88-91. ISBN 978-1-78093-607-9.
- ^ Webster, John C. B. (1994). The Dalit Christians: a history. ISPCK. p. 85. ISBN 978-81-7214-160-8.