Hinduism: Details about 'Bhikaji Cama'
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Bhikaji Rustom Cama (Madam Cama, Madame Cama) (September 24, 1861 - August 13, 1936) was a prominent figure in the Indian Nationalist Movement. Bhikaji Rustom Cama was born Bhika Sorab Patel on 24th September, 1861 in Bombay (now Mumbai) into a large, well-off Parsi (Persian) family. Her father, Sorabji Framji Patel, a merchant and trader, was well-known in the city. The father doted on his little girl, and affectionately called her "Munni". As with all Parsi girls of the time, Bhikaji attended Alexandra Parsee Girls' School. Bhikaji was by all accounts a diligent, disciplined child, with a flair for languages and a passion for the heroes of the nationalist movement(s). On August 3, 1885, she married Rustom Cama, a wealthy, pro-British lawyer with a desire to enter politics. It was not a happy marriage, and Bhikaji spent most of her time and energy in philanthropic activities and social work. In October 1896, the Bombay Presidency (as it was then known) was first hit by famine, and shortly thereafter by bubonic plague. Bhikaji joined one of the many teams working out of Grant Medical College (which would subsequently become Haffkine's plague vaccine research center), in an effort to provide care for the afflicted, and (later) to inoculate the healthy. She contracted the plague herself, but survived. Severly weakened, she set sail for Europe for subsequent medical care and recuperation in 1902. In London, she recieved word that her return to India would be prevented unless she sign a statement promising not to participate in nationalist activities. She refused, and remained in exile in Europe until shortly before her death (at Parsi General Hospital in Bombay) in 1936. While in London, she served as private secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji, the first Asian to be elected to the British House of Commons, and the first to publicly demand independence from Great Britain. In Paris she came in contact with other notable members of the movement for Indian sovereignty, and would come to clandestinely (in Holland) publish and distribute revolutionary literature for the movement. While in France, the British Government requested her extradition, but the French Government refused to cooperate. In return, the British Government siezed Cama's inheritance. Influenced by Christabel Pankhurst and the Suffragette movement, Bhikaji Cama was vehement in her support for gender equality. Speaking in Cairo, Egypt in 1910, she asked, "I see here the representatives of only half the population of Egypt. May I ask where is the other half? Sons of Egypt, where are the daughters of Egypt? Where are your mothers and sisters? Your wives and daughters?" Bhikaji Cama is best known for having unfurled a "Flag of Indian Independance" on August 22, 1907, at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. That flag, a slight modification of the Calcutta Flag, was co-designed by Cama, Veer Savarkar and Shyamji Krishna Varma, and would later serve as a template upon which the current national flag of India is based. Her speech to the conference members began thus: "This flag is of Indian Independence! Behold, it is born! It has been made sacred by the blood of young Indians who sacrificed their lives. I call upon you, gentlemen to rise and salute this flag of Indian Independence. In the name of this flag, I appeal to lovers of freedom all over the world to support this flag." One nationalist legend involving Bhikaji Cama goes like this:
Another variation of the story (possibly true), goes like this:
Several Indian cities have streets and places named after Bhikaji Cama. External References
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