Which Englishman, a close friend of Gandhi and Tagore who worked for Indian labourers abroad, was affectionately called 'Deenbandhu' (friend of the poor)?

• Andrews. Charles Freer Andrews (C. F. Andrews), an English priest, teacher and social reformer, was called "Deenbandhu" ("friend of the poor") because of his devotion to the poor and oppressed in India and abroad.

Early life:

• He was born on 12 February 1871 at Newcastle upon Tyne, in England.
• He studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and became a priest of the Church of England.

In India:

He came to India in 1904, as a member of the Cambridge Mission to Delhi.

He taught at St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

He became a supporter of the Indian national movement, and a friend of Indian leaders such as Gokhale and Lala Lajpat Rai.

Friendship with Gandhi and Tagore:

• He went to South Africa in 1914, at Gokhale's request, to help Gandhi in the struggle for the rights of Indians there.
• He became one of Gandhi's closest friends; he was one of the few people who called Gandhi "Mohan".

Gandhi said that the initials "C. F. A." stood for "Christ's Faithful Apostle".

He was a close friend of Rabindranath Tagore, and taught at Santiniketan; he helped Tagore in building Visva-Bharati.

Work for Indian labourers:

• He worked tirelessly to end the system of indentured labour, under which Indian workers were sent to colonies such as Fiji, Mauritius and the West Indies.
• He visited Fiji to study the conditions of Indian labourers, and his reports helped in the abolition of the indenture system (1917-1920).
• He also worked for the cause of untouchables, workers and peasants in India.
• He supported the trade union movement, and was a President of the All India Trade Union Congress.

Death:

He died on 5 April 1940 in Calcutta, and was buried there.

Remembrance:

The Deenabandhu Andrews College in Kolkata is named after him.

Why not the other options?

• ✗O. Hume and William Wedderburn were British founders and supporters of the Congress; Verrier Elwin worked among the tribal people of central India.