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Joachim Alva

(1907 – 1979) – (Karnataka)

Joachim Ignatius Sebastian Alva or Joachim Piedadealva (Aged 72) know as Joachim Alva was born on 21 January 1907 in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. He was an Indian lawyer, journalist, and politician who played an important role in the Indian independence movement. In 1928, Alva made history by becoming the first Christian to be appointed as Secretary of the fifty-year-old Bombay Students Brotherhood. Along with Khurshed Nariman, H.D. Raja, and Soli Batliwala, he was a pioneer of the Bombay Youth League.

In 1930, Alva established the Nationalist Christian Party with the goal of encouraging the Christian community to participate in the freedom struggle. He presided over a large meeting of Christians at Bombay in 1937, which was addressed by Jawaharlal Nehru. Alva was actively involved in organizing the “No-Tax” campaign at the Bardoli Satyagraha and was appointed Dictator of the War Council.

Alva was imprisoned twice by British Indian authorities on charges of sedition. During his imprisonment, he was a jail companion to Vallabhbhai Patel, Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, and J.C. Kumarappa. In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi wrote a letter to Alva to inform him that he had missed him at Yerwada Jail due to his early release. Alva passed away on 28 June 1979.