Madam Bhikaji Cama
Madam Bhikaji Cama (1861-1936)
Occupation/Service: Revolutionary
Special Contributions:
- Worked in collaboration with many famous nationalist like Sardar Singh Rana, Naoroji , etc.
- Also in touch with the Russian Revolutionaries and corresponded with Lenin, she was invited by him to visit Moscow
- her headquarters were in Paris and that was the meeting place of young revolutionaries like Hardayal and Shaklatvala.
- Supported violent revolutionary means for achieving freedom
- She was an eminent personality in the Abhinav Bharat society of the Indians residing in Europe
- Organized bomb making trainings for young revolutionaries
- Travelled Europe and America to gather support of young revolutionaries
- In 1907 while attending Socialist Congress at Stuttgart she unfurled the first Indian national flag designed by her, this flag was the precursor of the flag of Independent India. The only difference that came later was the use of red instead of orange.
- It was decided at this Congress that India would be a republic, Hindi would be its the national language, and Devnagri the national script
- With Sardar Singh Rana, she smuggled revolutionary literature and explosives into India
- Later the French government arrested and imprisoned her for three years till the end of the 1st world war
- For thirty years, she continuously worked for India’s freedom in Paris
- In 1935, she returned to Bombay and died the same year
- Regarded as ” the mother of Indian revolutionaries”
