“This is the flag of Independent India. I appeal to all gentlemen to stand and salute the flag.”
-The Brave Lady
The indomitable lady to first hoist the Indian flag on foreign soil!
Madam Bhikaji Cama
Who was Bhikaji Cama?
A dedicated nationalist - Bhikaji Cama was a fiery lady born in Mumbai in 1861 to a well-off Parsi family. Sorabji Framji Patel and Jaijibai Sorabji Patel, her parents were well-known in the city, her father Sorabji was a lawyer by training and a merchant by profession, he also held an influential position in the Parsi Community.
She was married to Rustom Cama in 1885 - a wealthy, pro-British lawyer who aspired to become a politician. While Madam Cama was a nationalist at heart, her husband was loyal to the Britishers and thought the British rule to be for the benefit of India, following these differences the marriage was not a harmonious one.
She gallantly served the mother country with her unique achievements and dynamic impact in India’s struggle for freedom.
The Impregnable Story
With an influential environment and the Indian Nationalist movement taking its roots, she was drawn to political issues from an early age. With a knack for languages, she soon became proficient in putting forward her country’s cause in different circles.
When the bubonic plague broke out in the Bombay presidency in 1896, Bhikaji instantly came forward to help save the plague victims. In this volunteering, she came in contact with this deadly disease, although she recovered but was left fragile and in need of better treatment was sent to Britain in 1902.
During her stay in London, she met many influential Indian nationalist leaders, became the personal secretary of Dadabhai Naoroji, the founder of the Indian National Congress, and came in contact with other Indian Nationalists like Lala Har Dayal and Shyamji Krishna Varma, with whom she addressed many meetings in London’s Hyde Park and helped found the Indian Home Rule Society.
She attempted to return to India in 1905 but was informed by the British that the return will only be sanctioned if she agreed to stop all the nationalistic activities. To this, she rejected the condition and decided to remain in exile for the rest of her life in a foreign country instead of submitting to the British.
She then relocated to Paris, and there along with two other political activists Singh Rewabhai Rana and Munchershah Burorji Godrej - she co-founded the Paris Indian Society, which was another branch of the Home Rule Movement.
Along with other notable Indian members fighting for Independence while in exile, she wrote, published, and distributed revolutionary literature for the movement, which included Bande Mataram (which was founded in response to the Crown ban on the patriotic poem Vande Mataram) and Madan’s Talwar (which was in response to the execution of an Indian Revolutionary Madan Lal Dhingra). She managed to smuggle these weeklies into India through the french Colony of Pondichéry to the Indian revolutionaries after the British had banned their distribution.
In 1907, she participated in the second Socialist Congress meet at Stuttgart, Germany which was the largest International Socialist party ever. There she spoke at length about the ruinous effects of British Colonialism which included the constant famine and crippling taxes that had ripped the Indian Economy, and also advocated for autonomy within the subcontinent.
During this event, she unfurled the “Flag of Independence” which was the precursor to the current Indian National flag. This precursor flag was designed by Madam Cama and a fellow activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
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Source: Thebetterindia
In 1914 with the outbreak of World War I, France and Britain became allies, with this all the members of the Paris Indian Society left except Madam Cama and the Singh Rewabhai Rana. They were even arrested in an attempt to arouse the Indian troops at Bordeaux.
In 1915, Rana and his family were deported to the Caribbean, while Cama was sent to Southern France.
In view of Madam Cama’s failing health, she was permitted to return to her residence at Bordeaux on condition of her to report to the local police station on weekly basis.
She remained in exile until 1935, during this time she became gravely ill and was paralysed by a stroke she had earlier that year, which became a reason for her to petition the British government for her to return to her home country. Considering her old age and she thus not being a threat to the British, they agreed on her return.
Nine months later of her return to India, she passed away at the age of 74 in the year 1936.
The Legacy of Madam Cama
- Madam Bhikaji Cama bequeathed most of her personal assets to the Avabai Petit Orphanage for girls.
- There are several Indian cities with their streets and places named after Bhikaji Cama.
- On 26 January 1962, at the instance of India’s 11th Republic day, the Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department issued a memorial stamp in her honour.
- The precursor of the Current Indian National Flag that she unfurled in Germany is displayed at the Maratha and Kesari Library in Pune to this day.
- In the year 1997, a Priyadarshini-class fast patrol vessel which was commissioned by the Indian Coast Guard was named ICGS Bhikaji Cama
The work done by Madam Bhikaji Cama stood at par and broke barriers in dozens of ways.
Written By- Devangi Sharma
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