Madam Bhikaiji Cama Unfurled the Indian flag in Stuttgart - Germany
Introduction & Early Life
One of the leading figures in the Indian Independence
movement was Bhikaiji Rustom Cama, also known as Madam Cama (24 September 1861
– 13 August 1936).
On September 24, 1861, Bhikaiji Cama was born into a
affluent, wealthy Parsi Zoroastrian family in Mumbai
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| Essay On Madam Cama |
Her parents, Sorabji Framji Patel and Jaijibai
Sorabji Patel, were well-known in the city, where her father Sorabji—a lawyer
by training but He was a Merchant. Sorabji was a Prominent figure in the Parsi
community. On August 21, 1907, Bhikaiji Cama raised the first version of
India's Independent Flag while an International Socialist conference was taking
place in Stuttgart, Germany. Bhikaiji attended Alexandra Females' English
Institution, much like many other Parsi girls of the period. Bhikaiji was a Hardworking,
Talented and well-behaved Girl. She tied the knot with K. R. Cama's son,
Rustom, on August 3rd, 1885.
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Her husband was a well-to-do, staunchly pro-British
attorney with political aspirations. her marriage was not pleasant. Bhikaiji
invested the most of her time and energy on charitable causes and social work.
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Participation in the freedom movement and Activism
In 1896, a plague outbreak occurred. Bhikaiji joined
one of the several teams operating outside from Grant Medical College, which
would later develop into the research hub for Haffkine's plague vaccine. She
had such bravery that she continued working selflessly for the patients while
knowing there was no vaccination for the plague. Later, Cama caught the
disease, but she survived it through. She was transferred to Britain for
medical treatment in 1902 because she was so weak.
She prepared to go for India in 1904 after
recovering from her illness. She met a few revolutionaries like Shyamji Krishna
Varma, who was well-known in London's Indian community for his fiercely
nationalist speeches he delivered in Hyde Park. India House was founded by
Shyamji Verma in London and quickly became the hub for Indian revolutionaries
travelling overseas. It was a specific type of dorm that housed Indian students
who were studying in London. The India House was founded on July 1st, 1905. He
introduced her to Dadabhai Naoroji, who was the head of the British Committee
of the Indian National Congress at the time. In the same year that she moved to
Paris, Cama co-founded the Paris Indian Society with S. R. Rana and Munchershah
Burjorji Godrej. Madam Cama fought strongly for continuing non-cooperation in
The Indian Sociologist. She realised that the greatest way to destroy the
British in India was to stop working with them; as a result, their system would
quickly come to an end.
Madam Bhikaiji Cama Unfurled the Indian flag in Stuttgart -Germany
Cama attended the second Socialist Congress on
August 22, 1907, in Stuttgart, Germany, where she gave a speech in which she
detailed the devastation caused by a famine that had ravaged the Indian
subcontinent. In her appeal for human rights, equality and autonomy from Great
Britain, she unfurled what she called the "Flag of Indian
Independence". Madam Cama hoisted
the first iteration of the Indian flag, which consists of a Tricolors of Green,
Saffron, and Red stripes. It is also said that Bhikaiji Cama and Shyamji
Krishna Varma jointly designed the flag that she unfurled; this flag ultimately
served as a model for the current National flag of India.
Flag
Designing and Hoisting
Three distinct colour stripes made up this flag. The
first one was green, representing the Muslim community in our Nation, the
second was saffron, a colour revered by Hindus, and the Third was Crimson,
intended to honor the valiant Independence warriors who gave their lives for
their country. The sun and crescent moon stand for Hinduism and Islam,
respectively. The eight lotuses in the top range stand in for the eight British
Indian provinces. "Vande Mataram"is
written in Devanagri script in the centre. The Berlin Committee selected the
image in 1914 as its official logo (later known as the Indian Independence
Committee). The Maratha and Kesari Library in Pune presently houses the
original "Flag of IndianIndependence" that Madam Bhikaiji Cama raised in Stuttgart.
After Stuttgart, Bhikaiji moved to the US, where she
travelled extensively and educated Americans about India's freedom movement. She
also fought for women's rights and frequently emphasized their importance in
the development of a country. In 1910, while speaking at a National conference
in Cairo, Egypt, she asked: "I only see people from the other half of
Egypt's population present here. Could you tell me where the other half is?
Where are the daughters of Egypt, sons of Egypt? Your mothers and sisters
should be here. where are your spouses and daughters?" Madam Cama Fought
for women's rights to equality in society. She raised awareness of the Indian
conflict Internationally as a devoted patriot. She was a staunch freedom
fighter who made significant contributions to the early Indian freedom struggle.
Exile
and Death
As World War I broke out, France and Britain formed
an alliance, which caused the situation to become more difficult. The French
restricted the freedom fighters' actions in India in order to avoid anything
that would endanger their new alliance. Madam Cama and Rana were arrested
temporarily in October 1914 while attempting to protest among Punjab Regiment
troops arriving in Marseilles on their way to the front.
Cama was forced to leave Marseilles and She went to
Rana's wife's home in Arcachon, near Bordeaux. The French authorities deported
Rana and his whole family to the Caribbean island of Martinique in January
1915, and Cama was deported to Vichy, where she was jailed. In poor health, she
was released in November 1917 and allowed to return to Bordeaux on the
condition that she report to the local police weekly. Cama returned to her house
at 25, Rue de Ponthieu in Paris after the war. She had a stroke in 1935, which
weakened her condition and made her paralysed. She petitioned the British
government for permission to return to her motherland through Sir Cowasji
Jehangir, a prominent leader of the Bombay Parsi community.
Madam Cama suffered from paralysis caused on by a
stroke that had occurred the year before and become very ill sometime about
1935. She then urged the British government, with Sir Cowasji Jehangir's
support, to relax the travel restriction preventing her from entering India.
Only after she had signed the document distancing herself from any seditious
acts was she allowed to enter India. Nine months later, Bhikaiji and Jehangir
returned to India in November 1935. On August 13, 1936, the brave revolutionary
who had made a significant contribution in India's war for independence she
passed away at the age of 74 at the Parsi General Hospital in Bombay, British
India.
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The Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department released a commemorative stamp in her honor on January 26, 1962, India's 11th RepublicDay. The ICGS Bhikaiji Cama, a rapid patrol ship of the Priyadarshini class, was also launched by the Indian Coast Guard in 1997.
She gave a large portion of her own assets to the
Bai Avabai Framji Petit Parsi Girls Orphanage, which established a trust in her
name, as well as a significant amount to the Framji Nusserwanjee Patel Agiary,
her family's fire temple in Mazgaon, South Bombay.
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