Bikeji Khama was an Indian revolutionary freedom fighter. She is famous for unfurling the Indian flag on August 22, 1907 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Wiki/Biography
Bhikaiji Cama was born on Tuesday, September 24, 1861, in Navsari, Bombay District, British India (he died aged 74). Her zodiac sign is Libra. Bhikhaiji Cama studied at Alexandra English College for Girls.
appearance
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Bhikaiji Cama was born into a Zoroastrian family.
Parents and siblings
Her father’s name is Sorabji Vramji Patel. He is a lawyer and businessman. Her mother’s name is Jajibhai Sorabji Patel.They were well-known members of the Parsi community in Bombay (now Bombay)
husband and children
She married Rustom Cama on August 3, 1885. Rustom was the son of KR Cama, a Parsi scholar and reformer from Bombay. Rustom comes from a wealthy family. He is a British lawyer.
religion
Zoroastrianism
Join the movement for freedom
Bhikaiji Cama was actively involved in helping and serving victims of the Black Death in Bombay in 1896. During this volunteer service, she also contracted the disease and recovered quickly. However, the illness left her physically weak. Doctors advised her to go to Europe to receive better treatment and recover from the deadly disease. In 1902, she traveled to London, intending to live there permanently. In London, she met Dadabayi Naoroji, who opposed colonial rule. At the time, he was chairman of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress. Soon, she also joined the Indian National Congress and secretly served as Dadabhai Naoroji’s personal secretary. As a member of the Congress Party, she delivered a speech in Hyde Park, London, along with famous Indian freedom fighters Lala Har Dayal and Shyamji Krishna Varma gave many speeches.
Lala Khar Dayal, Dadabhai Naoroji, Shamji Krishna Varma
In February 1905, Bhikaiji Cama along with Naoroji and Singh Rewabhai Rana actively joined the Indian Home Rule Society in Varma. Later, because of her active participation in anti-British activities, the British ordered her to leave London. The British gave her the opportunity to stay in the UK and promised that she would not participate in any nationalist activities. However she refused and left London for Paris. Soon, Khama, along with SR Rana and Munchershah Burjorji Godrej, founded the Paris Indian Association in Paris, France. While in exile, she wrote, published and distributed revolutionary literature for the Indian freedom struggle movement. Bande Mataram and Madan Talwar are the titles of her books published in the Netherlands and Switzerland. The French colony of Pondicherry, under the leadership of Bikeji Khama, secretly exported and circulated these books to India. Bhikki Kamal also used all money, material or ideas to help the Indian revolutionaries spread these books. On August 22, 1907, Bikeji Khama spoke at the Second Socialist Congress in Stuttgart, Germany, about the catastrophic effects of the famine affecting the Indian subcontinent and called on Britain to grant equal human rights to the poor people of India. and autonomy. During the meeting, she also hoisted a flag, which she called the “Flag of Indian Independence.”
Ms Khama unfurls Indian flag in Stuttgart, Germany
The flag is similar to the Kolkata flag as it was modified by her along with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Later, this flag became a specimen of the true Indian flag. In 1909, the famous Indian freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was arrested in England by William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, the Secretary of State for India. The following year, he was deported to India by ship. On the way, he jumped into the sea from a port window in Marseille, France, and escaped police arrest. On the shore he did not find Kama and the others, who were told to wait for him as they were already late. Soon, he was captured by French police. While in custody, he was unable to communicate with French authorities without Khama’s help and was sent again to British custody. Thereafter, the British government promised the French government to hand over Khama, but the French government refused to cooperate. Later, at the request of the French government, the British government confiscated all of Bikeji Khama’s property in the UK. When she was deported from France, Vladimir Lenin invited her to live in the Soviet Union. However, she declined the offer. During that time, Khama was inspired by Christabel Pankhurst and the suffragette movement, which inspired her to fight for gender equality. In 1910, she addressed a public meeting in Cairo, Egypt and asked:
The representatives I see here represent only half of Egypt’s population. Where is the other half? Sons of Egypt, where are the daughters of Egypt? Where are your mother and sisters? Your wife and daughters? “
die
In 1914, during World War I, France and Britain began to support each other. During this period, the revolutionaries of the Indian Society in Paris, except Khama and Singh Revabhai Rana, left France. A missionary named Jean Longuet suggested that she travel to Spain with Congressman Tirumal Acharya. When the French government asked Khama to leave France, Khama took refuge in Lannes’ wife’s home in Arcachon, near Bordeaux. However, in October 1914, she was arrested along with Rana while participating in some agitations by the troops of the Punjab Regiment, which was then in Marseilles. In January 1915, Lannes and his family were deported by the French government to the Caribbean island of Martinique. Soon, Bikeji Khama was arrested by the French government. She was released in November 1917 because her health had deteriorated in prison, but she was ordered to report weekly to a nearby police station. Until 1935, she continued to live in exile in Europe and suffered from paralysis and serious illness. On June 24, 1935, she wrote to the British Government from Paris through Sir Kaurvasji Jehangir, confirming to the British Government that she was no longer involved in any agitation and wished to return to India. In November 1935, she returned to India. She died at the Parsi General Hospital in Bombay on 13 August 1936 at the age of 74.
heritage
Bhikaiji Cama’s personal assets were handed over to Avabai Petit Girls Orphanage. The orphanage has now been converted into a school called Bai Avabai Framji Petit Girls High School, Mumbai. The amount is Rs. 54,000 were handed over to her family. Several famous streets and places are named after Mrs. Khama. On January 26, 1962, India’s 11th Republic Day, the Indian Post and Telegraph Department issued a 15 Paise Indian postage stamp in her name to commemorate her.
Bhikaiji Cama’s face on India Post stamp
In 1997, the Indian Coast Guard Commission named a ship named “Priyadarshini Class Fast Patrol Ship ICGS Bikhaiji Cama” after Bikhaiji Cama. In South Delhi, an office tower in a prime location named after Bhikaiji Cama houses India’s largest government offices and companies, including EPFO (www.epfindia.gov.in), Jindal Group, SAIL, GAIL and EIL.
Facts/Trivia
- She is also known as Lady Kama.
- Bikeji was a nationalist at heart and actively participated in socio-political activities, which led to differences between Bikeji and her husband. Rustom was a British follower. He believed that the British had done a lot for the rise of India. However, Bikeji believed that the British exploited India ruthlessly for their own interests and motives. Unhappy in her married life, Bhikaiji Cama became actively involved in charity activities and social work.
- Several African American writers and intellectuals have written several novels and books on the subject of Bhikaiji Cama, retaining the moment when the Indian flag was unfurled in Stuttgart, Germany, as inspiration. For example, in 1928, WEB Du Bois wrote the novel “The Dark Princess”.
- On August 22, 1907, she designed and unfurled the “Flag of Indian Independence” at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. The flag is a replica of the flag of Calcutta and comes in green, yellow and red colors. Green represents Islam, yellow represents Hinduism, and red represents Indian Buddhism. The eight lotuses represent the eight provinces of British India. Vande Mataram is written in Sanskrit in the middle and means “[We] Bow to you mom [India]”. Vande Mataram is the slogan of the Indian National Congress party. The sun and moon in the last row represent Islam and Hinduism in India. In 1914, this design of the Indian flag was accepted by the Berlin Committee, which later changed its name to the Indian Independence Committee. The original flag hoisted by Bhikaiji Cama was declared a historical masterpiece and displayed to the public at the Maratha and Kesari libraries in Pune.
Bhikaiji Cama Unfolded Indian Flag Picture
- Bikeji Khama is known as the “Mother of Indian Revolution” in Indian history.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education