Kali Charan Banerjee

Kali Charan Banerjee Biography

Kali Charan Banerjee, also known as K. C. Banerjee was the founder of Calcutta Christo Samaj in Bengal. He was one of the pioneers of Christian movement in India. Christo Samaj was parallel to Hindu’s Arya Samaj in West Bengal. He was also known as an excellent orator who used to deliver speeches during the meetings of Congress. He was a representative of Bengali Christian community in Indian national congress and a member of Congress as well since 1885.

He was born at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and he along with his family later moved to West Bengal. He was a lawyer by profession and a prominent member of Indian National Congress. He has been associated with Brahmabandhav Upadhyay, a Christian convert from Hindu. After converted to Christianity, Kali Charan Banerjee became a representative of minor Bengal Christians. He joined Indian National Congress in 1885 and was an orator during Congress’ sections.  G.C. Nath from Lahore and Peter Paul Pillai from Madras represented Christians from other parts of India. It was during the formative years of Indian National Congress. With his influence he was able to put many proposals before the Colonial British government of Calcutta for administrative reforms.

As a social worker he has also demanded for the betterment of educational system including Higher education and advocated for the municipal elective system. In those days, teachers were not allowed to participate in national movements and Kalicharan protested those impositions by British Raj. He started a newspaper called ‘The Bengal Christian Herald’ which was later renamed as ‘The Indian Christian Herald’. He was one of the active members of Bengal Christian Association too.

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Updated: September 03, 2014