Joachim and Violet Alva 2008 stamp of India

Joachim Ignatius Sebastian Alva (21 January 1907 – 28 June 1979) was an Indian lawyer, journalist and politician from

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

. He was a prominent Mangalorean Christian figure involved in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. After Independence, Alva was appointed

Sheriff of Bombay The Sheriff of Bombay is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Bombay. The sheriff is an officer of the High Court and the nominal Head of the High Court Department which carries out the or ...

in 1949 for the

Bombay state Bombay State was a large Indian state created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Province, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Province (in British India roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Mah ...

. In 1950, he entered the Provisional Parliament of India. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

in 1952, 1957, and 1962 from North

Kanara Kanara or Canara, also known as Karāvali, is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern Konkan coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The subregion comprises thr ...

. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1968 and retired from the Rajya Sabha in 1974.

History

Joachim Alva belonged to the Alva-Bhat, a

Mangalorean Catholic Mangalorean Catholics () are an ethno-religious community of Latin Christians from the Diocese of Mangalore and the erstwhile South Canara area; by the southern coast of present-day Karnataka, India. Contemporary Mangalorean Catholics descend ...

clan from Belle in

Udupi district Udupi district (also Udipi () in Kannada or Odipu () in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in the Karnataka state of India, with the district headquarters in the city of Udupi. It is situated in the Canara old north Malabar c ...

. He was educated at the Jesuit St. Aloysius College, Mangalore,

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

Government Law College, Mumbai The Government Law College, Mumbai, (GLC Mumbai), India, founded in 1855, is the oldest law school in Asia. The college, affiliated to the University of Mumbai, is run by the Government of Maharashtra. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Pratibha Patil, the ...

and the Jesuit

St. Xavier's College, Mumbai St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic Church, Catholic, institution of higher education run by the Bombay Province of the Society of Jesus in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by the Jesuits on 2 January 1869. The college is ...

. In 1928, Alva became the first Christian to be elected as Secretary of the fifty-year-old Bombay Students' Brotherhood. Along with

Khurshed Nariman Khurshed Framji Nariman (1883 – 1948), also known as Veer Nariman, was one of the second generation of Parsi stalwarts in the Indian National Congress. He remained Mayor of Bombay from 1935 for a year. Life After studying B.A. and L.L.B., he ...

, H.D. Raja, Yusuf Meherally and Soli Batliwala, he was a pioneer of the Bombay Youth League. In 1930, Alva founded the Nationalist Christian Party with the goal of drawing the Christian community into the freedom struggle. He borrowed and earned money to pay his way through college. He was expelled from

for moving a resolution at the Catholic Students Union urging it to throw open its doors to non-Catholic students. In 1937, Alva presided over a large meeting of Christians at Bombay addressed by

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

. He was actively involved in organizing the "No-Tax" campaign at the

Bardoli Satyagraha The Bardoli Satyagraha, was a farmers' agitation and nationalist movement in India against the increased taxation of farmers by the colonial government. It demanded a cancellation of the 22% tax hike being levied in Bombay Presidency. The move ...

, the boycotting of the

Simon Commission The Indian Statutory Commission, also known as the Simon Commission, was a group of seven members of the British Parliament under the chairmanship of John Simon. The commission arrived in the Indian subcontinent in 1928 to study constitutional ...

and appointed President of the Bombay Congress "War Council". Imprisoned twice by British Indian authorities on charges of

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

for a total of three years, Alva was jail companion to

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

and J. C. Kumarappa. In 1934,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

wrote a letter to Alva to inform him that he had missed him at

Yerwada Jail Yerwada Central Jail is a noted high-security prison in Yerwada, Pune in Maharashtra. This is the largest prison in the state of Maharashtra, and also one of the largest prisons in South Asia, housing over 5,000 prisoners (2017) spread over va ...

because of his early release. In 1941, in Nasik prison, Alva wrote two books: ''Men and Supermen of Hindustan'' and ''Indian Christians and Nationalism.'' Although the manuscripts of both were confiscated by prison authorities, ''Men and Supermen of Hindustan'' was subsequently re-drafted and published in 1943. In 1937, Alva married Violet Hari, a Gujarati Protestant from

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

and professor of English at St. Xavier's Indian Women's University College. Violet would also go on to become active in national politics. On 9 August 1943, the first anniversary of Quit India Day, Joachim and Violet Alva founded and debuted ''FORUM'', a weekly news magazine which became known for its championing of the cause of independence. ''FORUM'' blazed a trail in Indian journalism, marking the beginning of a trend of political weekly news magazines. Alva's office was often raided for seditious material. In spite of the sweeping powers of the British Raj, he penned a historic editorial "Halt This March To the Gallows". After Independence, Alva was appointed

in 1949 and entered the Provisional Parliament of India in 1950. He was elected to the

from North Kanara in the first three General Elections in 1952, 1957 and 1962. An early advocate of planning, the public sector, nationalised banking and state control over major industries, he condemned France's napalm bombing of Indo-China and staunchly supported the Vietnamese cause. In 1962, Alva led on India's attempts for closer ties with China, meeting

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

in Beijing. In 1952, Violet was elected to the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

making her and Joachim the first couple to be elected to Parliament under adult franchise. The Government of India issued a stamp commemorating the couple in November 2008.A stamp in memory of Joachim and Violet Alva

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

, 20 November 2008.

Personal life

Joachim and Violet Alva had two sons, Niranjan and Chittaranjan, and a daughter, Maya. The couple were close associates of

Khin Kyi Maha Thiri Thudhamma Khin Kyi (; 16 April 1912 – 27 December 1988) was a Burmese politician and diplomat, best known for her marriage to the country's leader, Aung San, with whom she had four children, including Aung San Suu Kyi. She served as ...

, Burma's ambassador to India from 1960, widow of Burmese nationalist General Aung San. His son Niranjan is married to

Margaret Alva Margaret Nazareth Alva (born 14 April 1942) is an Indian politician. She served as the 17th Governor of Goa, 23rd Governor of Gujarat, 19th Governor of Rajasthan and 4th Governor of Uttarakhand at various times between 2009 and 2014. She has ...

, née Margaret Nazareth, former General Secretary of the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...

, former

Governor of Uttarakhand The governor of Uttarakhand is the nominal head of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Appointed by the president of India, the governor holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head of the state government; all its e ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alva, Joachim 1907 births 1979 deaths India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 Indian independence activists from Karnataka Indian Roman Catholics Lok Sabha members from Karnataka Mangaloreans Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka Sheriffs of Mumbai Prisoners and detainees of British India