History
Joachim Alva belonged to the Alva-Bhat, a Mangalorean Catholic clan from Belle in Udupi district. He was educated at Elphinstone College, Government Law College, Mumbai and Jesuit St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.
In 1928, Alva became 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 founded the Nationalist Christian Party with the goal of drawing the Christian community into the freedom struggle. He was expelled from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai for moving a resolution at the Catholic Students Union urging it to throw open its doors to students of other communities. In 1937, Alva presided over a large meeting of Christians at Bombay addressed by Jawaharlal Nehru. He was actively involved in organizing the "No-Tax" campaign at the Bardoli Satyagraha and appointed Dictator of the War Council.
Imprisoned twice by British Indian authorities on charges of sedition, Alva was 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 because of his early release.
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 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 August 9, 1943, the first anniversary of Quit India Day, Joachim and Violet Alva founded FORUM, a weekly news magazine which became known for its championing of the cause of independence.
After Independence, Alva was appointed Sheriff of Bombay in 1949. In 1950, he entered the Provisional Parliament of India. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952 and 1957 and 1962 from North Kanara. In 1952, Violet was elected to the Rajya Sabha making them the first couple to be elected to Parliament under adult franchise.
The Government of India issued a stamp commemorating the couple in November 2008.
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