On August 21, 1907, an International Socialist Conference was being held in Stuttgart, a city in Germany. A thousand delegates came from all over the world to attend the conference. On this occasion, Bhikaji Cama hoisted the first version of the Indian national flag – the tricolor with green, saffron, and red stripes.
Bhikaji Cama, full of enthusiasm, while addressing the people carrying her tricolor in the event, announced, “This is the flag of independent India. I appeal to all the gentlemen to stand up and salute the flag.
You may be a little surprised to know that in 1907 India was under the British Government i.e. a time when our country had not even become independent, astounded by that incident, all the delegates present at the conference stood up and hoisted the first flag of India. saluted |
Bhikaji Cama wanted to bring to the fore the poverty, hunger, and oppression caused by the British Raj in the country, as well as bring India's strong desire for independence to the attention of the international community, and she was successful in this.
This was no mean feat. India's independence was still 40 years away, and the world was still unaware of the patriotism burning in the hearts of thousands of young Indians who were ready to sacrifice their lives to free their country from colonial rule. Also, at that time, the British were trying their best to punish the revolutionaries by giving them bans and life imprisonment. Bhikaji Cama's revolutionary actions and words were treason to the British Raj and if they had caught him, they would have sent him to the dreaded Kala Pani Jail in Andaman.
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Let's know the story of this indomitable woman...
Bhikaji Cama was born on 24 September 1861 in Bombay (now Mumbai) in a very affluent Parsi family. She is also known as Madam Cama. Her father Sorabji Framji Patel and her mother Jayjibai Sorabji Patel were very influential in the Parsi community. Her father was a famous businessman in the city of Mumbai. She was a lawyer by training and at the forefront of philanthropy.
Like many Parsi girls of the time, Bhikaji Cama attended the Alexandra Girls' English Institution. She was a hardworking and disciplined child and was very rich in talent.
Influenced by an environment in which the Indian nationalist movement was taking root, Bhikaji Cama was attracted to political issues from a very young age. She had an inclination towards languages, due to which she had knowledge of many languages.
In 1885, she was married to Rustomji Cama, a renowned lawyer. But differences arose between the couple due to their opposite views on socio-political matters.
Rustomji Cama was a lawyer for the British, she liked their culture. They used to think that they have done a lot of good for India, and are developing India. On the other hand, Bhikaji Cama had nationalist sentiments in her heart and believed that the British mercilessly exploited India for their own benefit. Due to this their married life was not happy, and Bhikhaji spent most of her time and energy in charitable activities and social work.
In 1896, the bubonic plague broke out in the Bombay Presidency and Bhikaji immediately volunteered to help the team working to rescue the plague victims.
Hundreds of people were dying in Mumbai and Bhikaji had also come under the grip of this deadly disease. Although she recovered, after this illness her physical strength had weakened and she was becoming weaker day by day.
She was advised to go to Europe for rest and recuperation and in 1902, Bhikaji Cama left India for London. But after that, she had to spend almost the rest of her life there.
It is a bit strange how a patriot can stay away from her country. But because of this feeling of patriotism, she had to spend her life there and there she did what she could not do even after living in India.
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Why could not return home?
In 1904, Bhikaji Cama petitioned to return to India.
In London, Bhikaji Cama Dadabhai came in contact with Shyamji Krishna Varma, who was known in London's Indian community for his fiery nationalist speeches in Hyde Park. Through him, she met Dadabhai Naoroji, a strong critic of British economic policy in India, and then President of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress. Then Bhikaji Cama worked as Dadabhai Naoroji's personal secretary.
Along with Dadabhai Naoroji and Singh Revabhai Rana, Bhikaji Cama supported Verma's establishment of the Indian Home Rule Society in February 1905.
While in London, she received a message from the British that she would be barred from returning to India unless she signed a statement promising not to participate in nationalist activities. She flatly refused to give such promise or any signature and that was the reason why she could not return home.
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How do their weekly magazines reach India?
In 1905 Bhikaji Cama shifted to Paris, where S.R. Along with Rana and Munchershah Burjorji Godrej, she co-founded the Paris Indian Society.
Along with other notable members of the movement for Indian sovereignty living in exile, Bhikaji Cama wrote, published, and distributed revolutionary literature for the movement, including Bande Mataram (founded in response to the outright ban on the poem Vande Mataram). ) and later Madan ki Talwar (in response to the hanging of Madan Lal Dhingra).
These weekly magazines were sent to India through the French colony of Pondicherry.
Banned in India and Britain, Bhikaji managed to send weekly magazines to Indian revolutionaries. She provided all possible help to the revolutionaries, be it with money, materials, or ideas. Despite all the efforts, the British government could not stop them.
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Indian flag hoisted in Germany
On August 22, 1907, Madam Bhikaji Cama became the first Indian to hoist the Indian flag on foreign soil in Stuttgart, Germany. Appealing to Britain for human rights, equality, and autonomy, she described the devastating effects of the Indian famine.
The flag she hoisted was co-designed by Cama and Shyamji Krishna Varma, and the latter is one of the templates from which the current national flag of India was created.
In this flag, the top green stripe had eight blooming lotuses representing the eight provinces of pre-independent India. 'Vande Mataram' was written in Hindi on the central saffron stripe. The lower red stripe had a half moon on the right and a rising sun on the left, representing the Hindu and Muslim faiths.
The same flag was later brought to India by socialist leader Indulal Yagnik and is now displayed in the Maratha and Kesari Library in Pune.
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Work done for the rights of women
After Stuttgart, Bhikaji Cama went to the United States, where she traveled extensively, telling Americans about India's freedom struggle.
She also fought for women and often emphasized the role of women in nation-building.
During her speech at the National Convention in Cairo, Egypt in 1910, she asked, “Where is the half of Egypt? I only see men who represent half the country! Where are the mothers? where are the sisters? Where are your wives and daughters?"
Bhikaji Cama supported the right of women to vote.
Herabai and Mithan Tata, two Parsi women outspoken on the issue of the right to vote, say.
In 1920, Bhikaji Cama, on meeting Herabai and Mithan Tata, said: “Work for the freedom of Indians. When India is free, women will not only have the right to vote but all other rights.
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Why did he have to go to jail during the 1914 World War?
When World War I broke out in 1914, Bhikaji Cama took an anti-British stand. She visited the army camp in Marseille and asked the Indian Army there, "Are you going to fight for those who have held your motherland down?"
With the outbreak of World War I, France and Britain became allies. All the members of the Paris India Society left Paris except Bhikaji Cama and Singh Revabhai Rana. She was advised by a fellow-socialist Jean Longet to go to Spain with M. P. Tirumal Acharya. But she refused.
She and the Rana were briefly arrested in October 1914 when they tried to stir up agitation among the soldiers of the Punjab Regiment who had arrived in Marseilles on their way to the front.
They needed to leave Marseille, and Bhikaji Cama then went to the house of Rana's wife at Arcachon, near Bordeaux.
In January 1915, the French government deported Rana and her entire family to the Caribbean island of Martinique.
Bhikaji Cama was sent to Vichy, where she was put under house arrest. Due to poor health, she was released in November 1917 and allowed to return to Bordeaux, provided she reported weekly to the local police.
After the war, Bhikaji Cama returned to her home on Rue de Ponthieu in Paris. The indomitable woman maintained active contacts with Indian, Irish, and Egyptian revolutionaries as well as French socialists and the Russian leadership.
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How did you return home?
Bhikaji Cama lived in exile in Europe till 1935. A stroke she suffered earlier that year paralyzed her and became seriously ill. Then she petitioned the British government to allow her to return to his country. But again the same condition was put in front of her.
She knew that she did not have much time left and wanted to take her last breath in her soil. And this time she accepted the condition.
In a written statement in Paris on 24 June 1935, she accepted that she would not participate in revolutionary activities.
Knowing that she was in no position to participate in the freedom struggle, she was allowed to return to India after a long gap of 33 years.
Accompanied by Jahangir, she reached Bombay in November 1935, and nine months later, at the age of 74, on 13 August 1936, Bhikaji Cama breathed her last at the Parsi General Hospital.
The country had lost an able lawyer, multilingual and courageous leader.
She gave away most of her personal wealth to the Avabai Petit Orphanage for Girls.
On 26 January 1962, India's 11th Republic Day, the Indian Post and Telegraph Department issued a commemorative stamp in her honor.
In 1997, the Indian Coast Guard also commissioned a Priyadarshini-class fast patrol vessel named ICGS Bhikaji Cama.
As a tribute to Bhikaji Cama, the high-rise office complex in the posh location of South Delhi, which houses major government offices and companies such as EPFO, Jindal Group, SAIL, GAIL, EIL, etc., has been named Bhikaji Cama Place.
Look, the flag of independent India! It has been sanctified by the blood of young Indians who gave their lives in its honor. In the name of this flag, I appeal to freedom lovers all over the world to support this struggle. Bhikaji Cama
This great woman should never be forgotten. How did you like the story of Bhikaji Cama's courage and igniting the flame of freedom in Indian hearts? Do not forget to tell us in the comment box.
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