history oft he migration Kerala Christians Dr. Ninan Daniel

KERALA CHRISTIAN DIASPORA - AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY IN RELATION TO THE MIGRATION OF KERALA CHRISTIANS

Dr. Ninan Daniel

KERALA CHRISTIAN DIASPORA has a very long, chequered and blessed history, one that we all are grateful for and certainly proud of. Praise THE LORD! More than a century ago, the then Suffragan Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma made a fervent prayer to God Almighty,'' scatter my people all over the globe''. That was a time when Christians and other minority communities had been struggling to make social, cultural and political progress in Travancore, Cochin and Malabar. The Indian freedom movement had just been rejuvenated under the leadership of Mr. Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi.

Syrian Christians holding a religious rasa in Kerala

Our grandfathers and fathers realised the lack of opportunities for progress in Travancore and in India in general. They managed to acquire basic English education and left the Pamba basin for a better day for their families. Some of the early pioneers of migration settled in the Far East, Malaya, Singapore, Borneo, and Burma. Some found opportunities in Ceylon. This generation had been brought up with deep Christian faith. Morning and evening family prayers were the norm. Our appachens took great pride in leading the family prayers. They took an active part in local prayer groups and fellowships. Ammachis made sure that all members of the family attended prayers on time.

Hence there was no doubt their sons and grandsons who had settled abroad had the Holy Bible close to their chest! They had lit the lamp of faith wherever they settled. No wonder Kerala Christian Diaspora made deep roots in all parts of the world. All Christian denominations from Kerala thrived abroad- from the Far East to the Middle East, to North America and Europe, to North, East, West and Southern Africa, to Australia and New Zealand.

The Second World War was a tumultuous period for our families in the Far East (perhaps the first Christian Diaspora from Travancore). There was a very thin line between life and death in those years of Japanese aggression and occupation. Despite the heavy Japanese onslaught, the generations of our parents and grandparents, of whom there was absolutely no news for anxious, frightened relatives and friends back home, survived by the Grace of God Almighty. In the bunkers with bombs exploding close by, with severe food shortage, they opened the Bible and prayed incessantly for the end of the war. After the war, the Kerala Christian Diaspora in Malaya, Singapore, and Borneo rose from the ashes to glory and prosperity and the God of their fathers was with them. Praise the Lord!

The war-time was an extremely difficult period for Indians as a whole. There was food rationing. Essential commodities were in extreme short supply. In Travancore, the Dewan Sir C. P Ramaswamy Iyer made life difficult for the Christian community. As far as government jobs were concerned, we had no 'look in'. The Dewan tried hard by hook or crook to destroy the Travancore State Congress led by Christian political heavyweights like Mr. T. M Varghese Esq, Sir C. P Ramaswamy influenced the legal circles to ruthlessly annihilate the National Quilon Bank and its directors Mr. K.C Mammen Mapillai, his brother Mr. K. C Eapen and C.P Mathen were imprisoned. The Dewan suspected strongly that this bank and its land and plantation-owning directors were supporting the State Congress which stood and agitated for responsible government and mass franchise. The Malayala Manorama of which K.C Mammen Mappillai was the Chief Editor, was forced to cease its printing and publication and the premises were locked and sealed. The Dewan cruelly suppressed all opposition against him and his government. He was even orchestrating plans for an independent Travancore state. At this point our Beloved His Grace Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan was the only head of any Christian denomination who had the moral courage to vehemently oppose the Dewan's utterly horrible and foolish plans. A rumour spread that Sir C. P. Ramaswamy was thinking of imprisoning our Metropolitan. As a result of the anti- Christian stance by the De-

wan, a generation of Christians who grew up around this time were determined to gain the best education they possibly could, and fend for themselves and their families. The rest is post-independence history. To make this happen, their fathers and grandfathers worked physically hard from dawn till dusk in their paddy fields and sugarcane farms maximising the income to support their sons and daughters. They left home early in the morning with a prayer and returned at the end of the day in time for leading the family prayers. They sang loud Sadhu Koch Kunju Upadesi's songs.

After the war, employment opportunities arose in the Middle East and the Malayalees grabbed them. The hardearned money from the Persian Gulf transformed life in Kerala especially in Central Travancore for ever. This helped all Christian denominations on the Malabar Coast. As time passed by, prayer fellowships and later congregations and churches sprang across most Emirates. It is an undeniable fact that Christian churches of all denominations are thriving in the Middle East. Praise the Lord!

An old photo of Maramon Convention

In the fifties it was mostly the graduates, postgraduates and professionals of various disciplines who had arrived in North America and Europe. Those in the medical profession after gaining suitable training and experience decided to settle down in these continents. The sixties and seventies witnessed a great brain drain from Kerala to the USA, Canada, the UK, Republic of Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and France.

The Mar Thoma Church has had the vision and farsightedness to expand collegiate education throughout Kerala giving students from all backgrounds the opportunity to gain necessary skill and knowledge. This equipped them to go out into the world at large in search of greener pastures. The Government of India's constitutional obligation has always been to help communities marginalised due to their caste and creed. This entailed reservations for jobs, which indirectly affected the chances, members of the forward communities would have had otherwise. This was a further determinant in the migration of Christians of all denominations to USA and Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand.

Wherever Kerala Christians of any denomination settled, they started fellowships for prayers with lay leadership. These prayer fellowships gradually developed into parishes. A collection of parishes formed into a diocese or joined an Outer Kerala Diocese (Bahia Kerala Bhadrasanam). All Christian denominations from Kerala are going from strength to strength abroad under the guidance of the respective church leadership.

As far as Mar Thoma Diaspora was concerned, that leadership came from His Grace Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan who had the vision of Marthomites going to the far corners of the world as ambassadors of the Church. It was Beloved Thirumeni who exhorted them that every Marthomite is an Evangelist. It is no exaggeration to say that wherever they settled, they had the Holy Bible and the 'Parasyaradhana Kramam' with them.

The New Millennium has witnessed a great migration of the young enterprising, god-fearing generation to North America and Europe, Australia and New Zealand and the Middle East. They have settled in all walks of life especially in the medical and social care sector, in engineering, computing and other technological fields, teaching and various business enterprises. The contribution of our Church in University, Technical, Medical, Nursing and Industrial Training Education has been marvellous. All the Christian Churches in Kerala have made higher education accessible to everyone in any part of the state and in other Indian states too.

Kerala Christian Diaspora is here to stay. They will always uphold what our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ said to His Disciples '' Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation''. The Diaspora faces many trials and tribulations. We face a lot of challenges too in a world that has very complex problems. Christians throughout the world are suffering discrimination, open hostility and in some instances outright persecution. Climate change is another big issue. The Mar Thoma Church has a very clear stand on this; to protect and preserve what God Almighty has entrusted us with. Let us pray that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob will guard and guide us and our future generations on our onward journey. AMEN!