Punjabi Christians
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c. 2,322,000 | |
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Catholicism and Protestantism ) | |
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Background |
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Punjabi Christians are adherents of
Today, the Punjabi Christians reside in the
History
From the mid-19th to early 20th centuries, a number of Christian texts were translated and made widely available in the
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.[13][14] The meeting of the All India Conference of Indian Christians in Lahore in December 1922, which had a large attendance of Punjabis, resolved that the clergymen of the Church in India should be drawn from the ranks of Indians, rather than foreigners.[15] The AICIC also stated that Indian Christians would not tolerate any discrimination based on race or skin colour.[15] S. K. Datta of Lahore, who served as the principal of Forman Christian College in then colonial India, became the president of the All India Conference of Indian Christians, representing the Indian Christian community at the Second Round Table Conference, where he agreed with Mahatma Gandhi's views on minorities and Depressed Classes.[16]
In June 1947, the total population of Punjabi Christians in the Punjab Province of colonial India was recorded at 511,299. Of these, 450,344 were based in West Punjab and 60,955 were in East Punjab.[8] After the partition of British India, most Punjabi Christians remained in place, with the majority finding themselves within the borders of Pakistan and the rest in independent India.[17] Those Christians who were serving in official government positions and the civil service were given the choice of opting for either of the countries.[18] The many British-era churches and cathedrals dotting the various cities of Punjab were overtaken by Punjabi Christians, and they also continued the legacy of maintaining Christian educational institutions and healthcare facilities which had remained nationally renowned.[19]
Culture
According to Selva J. Raj, the Punjabi Christian identity is an amalgamation of the Christian faith along with an ethnic affinity for the culture of Punjab, which includes the Punjabi language, Punjabi cuisine, the various customs and traditions of Punjab, and the way of life of the Punjabi people in general.[20]
As a result of living close to Punjabis of other faiths for generations, there have been notable cross-cultural influences; the
Geographical distribution
Pakistan
As of 1981,
In the
In Sindh, there have been Punjabi Christians settled for several decades; they include farmers, landowners, agricultural workers and other labourers engaged in blue collar work in the rural countryside, with Catholic villages existing in Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Sanghar and Mirpur Khas.[27][8] The metropolis of Karachi is home to the largest population, with over 20,000 Punjabi Christians living in the neighbourhood of Essa Nagri alone.[8] In Balochistan, the majority of the province's 80,000 to 100,000 Christians are Punjabis.[8]
In Gilgit-Baltistan, Christians from Punjab are present across all of the ten districts, and are involved in janitorial work in both the public and private sectors.[24]
India
In India, the majority of Punjabi Christians belong to the Dalit community of chuhras
Diaspora
As a result of immigration, a large Christian Punjabi diaspora exists today.[8] There are significant Punjabi Christian communities in Canada (particularly Toronto),[8][33] the United States (particularly Philadelphia),[8] the Middle East,[34] the United Kingdom,[17] as well as other parts of Europe and Australia.[8] In the UK, Christian Punjabis are concentrated in the cities of London, Bedford, Birmingham, Coventry, Oxford and Wolverhampton among others.[20] One of the most prominent early Punjabi Christians in the UK was Duleep Singh, who first landed in the country in 1854, he was the Sikh Prince kidnapped by British at young age and converted without his knowing. He left Christianity at a later age and converted back to his Sikh beliefs.[20]
Some who have sought to resettle in the
Genetics
A study published in Nature analyzed the DNA of Punjabi Christians residing in the city of Lahore and found that they "appeared genetically more associated to south Asian, particularly Indian populations like Tamil, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh than rest of global populations."[37]
List of people
- Akram Masih Gill, Pakistani politician
- Amrit Kaur, first Health Minister of India
- Ankur Narula, Indian Evangelist and Senior Pastor and Overseer in the Church of Signs and Wonders
- Anthony Theodore Lobo, former minister of Pakistan Roman Catholic Church
- Bir Masih Saunta, Indian politician & G.S of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee(Minority Dept.)
- Bobby Jindal, American politician
- Brother Bakht Singh, Indian evangelist
- Bohemia (David Roger), first Punjabi rapper
- Cecil Chaudhry, Pakistani academic, human rights activist, and veteran fighter pilot
- Edward Nirmal Mangat Rai, Chief Secretary of East Punjab from 1957 to 1962 and the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir from 1964 to 1966; architect of Chandigarh
- Gurmit Singh (half Punjabi), Siganporean actor-singer
- Harnam Singh, a president of the All India Conference of Indian Christians
- Iqbal Masih, Pakistani boy who became a symbol of abusive child labour
- Michael Masih, Pakistani footballer
- Naeem Masih, Pakistani para athlete
- Nazir Latif, former Pakistani air force officer
- United States ambassador to the United Nations
- Kalpana Kartik, Bollywood actress and wife of Dev Anand
- Nirmal Roy, Pakistani singer
- Jasvinder Sanghera, British activist
- Julian Peter, former Major General in Pakistan Army
- Lawrence Saldanha, Catholic bishop
- Peter Christy, former Pakistani air force officer
- Raja Maharaj Singh, first Indian Governor of Bombay Presidency
- Rakesh Masih, Indian footballer
- Sadhu Sundar Singh, Indian Christian missionary
- Samuel Azariah, Pakistani bishop
- Samuel Martin Burke, Pakistani diplomat, author and professor
- Sardar Anjum ,Indian Poet
- Shammi Jalandhari , Indian Poet
- Satya Prakash Singha (half Punjabi), Speaker of Punjab Assembly in Colonial India; Pakistani politician
- Shazia Hidayat, Pakistani track and field athlete
- Shae Gill, Pakistani singer, famous for Pasoori, Coke Studio
- National Assembly of Pakistan
- Shazia Masih, Pakistani torture victim
- Sidra Sadaf, Pakistani cyclist
- Sunita Marshall, Pakistani model & T.V actress
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4443-9729-1.
- ^ a b c "Christians seek political voice in India's Punjab state". UCA News. 7 May 2019. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "2011 UK Census data - Religion". Office for National Statistics. 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-908877-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4443-9260-9.
- ISBN 978-0-567-03286-7.
- ^ Weber, Jeremy (7 August 2009). "Were Pakistan's Deadly Gojra Riots Enough to Provoke Change?". Christianity Today. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
Punjab is the center of Pakistan's small Christian community—an estimated 3 million in the Muslim nation of 175 million...
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Aqeel, Asif; Faruqi, Sama (26 February 2018). "Caste away: The ongoing struggle of Punjabi Christians". Dawn. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d Aqeel, Asif (23 October 2015). "'Christians required only as sweepers'". The Friday Times. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-59033-391-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-63087-485-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8047-4318-1.
- ISBN 978-0-8386-1021-3.
- ISBN 978-0-230-29808-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-909757-9.
In December 1921, the Punjabi-dominated meetings of the All India Conference of Indian Christians in Lahore was more cautious in their proposals but less cautious in the rationale they offered. They passed resolutions, first indicating that the Protestant missions 'should be completely merged in the Indian Church and that in future all Foreign Missionaries should be related to it', and then urging the missions in the meantime to 'appoint Indians of ability and character on an increasing scale'. Among their supporting arguments were that 'Indian Christians are not going to put up with colour and racial distinctions', that foreign missionaries could not solve the community's problems 'because of lack of sympathy', that the missions were too divided by denominational differences to bring about a united Indian Church, and that 'In these days Indians look up to Indians and do not pay much attention to foreigners.'
- ISBN 978-1-78093-607-9.
- ^ a b c Journal of Religious Studies. Department of Religious Studies, Punjabi University. 1986. p. 59.
Most Punjabi Christians remained on the Pakistani side. Emigration especially to U.K. has taken a tremendous toll. In U.K. they have sunk into the general mass of the British irreligious. On the Indian side, Punjabi Christians found how much they had been influenced by Islam.
- ^ Bangash, Yaqoob Khan (5 January 2020). "When Christians were partitioned in the Punjab-IV". The News. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-317-56027-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-317-05229-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-26269-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-108-42530-8.
- ^ a b c d Webster, John C.B. "Punjabi Christians" (PDF). UC Santa Barbara & Union Theological Seminary. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ a b Aqeel, Asif (1 November 2018). "'Untouchable' caste identity haunts Pakistani Christians like Asia Bibi". World Watch Monitor. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "The Plight of Minorities in 'Azad Kashmir'". Asian Lite. 14 January 2019. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
Christians are the only community who migrated here from the Punjab, mostly from Rawalpindi and Sialkot.
- ^ Usman, Ali (22 April 2013). "Multi-tongued: Peshawar's happy Hindus and Sikhs". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "Punjabi Christians leaving Sindh". UCA News. 27 November 1989. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ Indian Church History Review. Church History Association of India. 2003. p. 66.
As Punjabi Christians in India, the vast majority of whom are from Chuhra backgrounds, reaffirm their Dalit identity along with their Christian identity..
- ^ "India: Christians in shock after pastor shot dead in 'safe' Punjab". World Watch Monitor. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2.
The Punjabi of Delhi mainly belong to four main religions, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7304-119-8.
The Christians of Chandigarh, also known as Isai, have a number of sects... There are no accepted titles used by the community, but many Christian migrants from Punjab use Massey with their names.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7304-091-7.
The Christians in Haryana are numerically small and are popularly known as Issai. Most of them who setded in Haryana are not the original inhabitants of this place. They have migrated to this region from Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh... Therefore, their food habits, language, festivals, religious faith etc. reflect the impact of the place of their original inhabitation. For example, the Christians of Kerala speak Malayalam; of Karnataka, Kannada; and those from Punjab, Punjabi.
- ^ "Punjabi Christian community finally gets own church in Surrey". Hindustan Times. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ Masudi, Faisal (17 December 2014). "Dubai's Pakistani Christians pray for Peshawar attack victims". Gulf News. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ Gannon, Kathy (4 December 2019). "629 Pakistani Girls Trafficked to China as Brides". Christianity Today. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ Gannon, Kathy; Kang, Dake (8 May 2019). "Pakistani Christian girls trafficked to China as brides". AP News. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- hdl:10453/145358.
Further reading
- Webster, John C. B. "Punjabi Christians" (PDF). University of California, Santa Barbara & Union Theological Seminary.