This presentation will examine the contested ideas of freedom evident in the two writs of habeas corpus, filed in the Bombay Presidency by Indian Christians in the nineteenth century, challenging the Indian caste system. The writ of habeas corpus, described as the ‘protector of liberties of the subject,’ was used by the English judges to protect the King’s subject across the British colonies. Through the writ Indian Christians from the marginal communities were claiming freedom from one’s neighbour, who ruthlessly oppressed them.
Using this micro history of individual political and social freedom, this presentation will examine the macro connections with the Indian nationalist movement. Nationalist advocated Swaraj that had a narrow vision of political independence from foreign rule. Contested ideas of freedom is about how marginal community wanted freedom from the internal colonization and marginalization of the upper class in line with how the elites fought for freedom from external forces.