Bhikaji Cama: The Forgotten Feminist Who Carried India In Her Hands

In 1907, at the International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart, Germany, a hall full of men watched as a woman stepped forward with a flag in her hands. That woman was Bhikaji Cama. With steady conviction, she declared that this was the flag of Indian independence and called upon the world to recognize the struggle of a nation still in chains.

It was a daring moment. Not only because she was speaking against the British Empire on foreign soil, but because she was doing it as a woman at a time when women were expected to remain silent.

More Than a Revolutionary

Born in 1861 into a Parsi family in Bombay, Bhikaji Cama could have led a life of wealth and comfort. But the suffering she witnessed during the plague epidemic in the city changed her path forever.

Her health weakened from nursing the sick, so she moved to Europe for treatment. Exile turned into activism as she joined Indian revolutionaries in London and Paris, writing, organizing, and spreading the message of freedom.

Cama was not content to be a background supporter. She wanted to lead. She wanted to speak. And she did so in rooms where women were rarely heard.

A Feminist Voice

In 1910, at a conference in Cairo, she noticed something striking: the audience was full of men, with no women in sight. Taking the stage, she reminded the gathering that mothers and sisters were as vital to nation-building as men. Her message was simple but radical—nations cannot rise if women are left behind.

Cama’s feminism was practical, rooted in politics. When asked about women’s rights, she argued that independence had to come first.

Only in a free India, she said, could women claim the rights they deserved, whether to vote, to work, or to participate equally in society. It was not a dismissal of women’s issues but a recognition that true equality could only grow on the soil of freedom.

Her Vision

Unlike many who imagined independence as an end in itself, Cama dreamed of something larger: an India that was free, united, and republican. For her, freedom was not merely about removing the British; it was about creating a nation built on equality and dignity.

Her vision tied nationalism and feminism together. Independence was not just for men—it had to include women if it was to mean anything at all.

The Forgotten Icon

Bhikaji Cama returned to India after years of exile and died in Bombay in 1936, a decade before independence. She did not live to see the flag she once raised flying proudly over a free nation. And yet, her contribution laid the foundation for what came later.

Her story has been overshadowed by the more familiar names of male leaders. Schoolbooks rarely give her more than a passing mention. But her life reminds us of a truth we cannot afford to forget: India’s freedom struggle was not a man’s struggle alone. Women fought for it, carried it, and paid for it with exile, illness, and sacrifice.

Why She Matters Today

In today’s India, where debates on women’s equality are still urgent, Bhikaji Cama’s life feels like unfinished business. She showed us that freedom and feminism are not separate causes but intertwined. A nation that ignores its women undermines its own strength.

Her act of raising the flag in Stuttgart was more than symbolism; it was a declaration that women had the right to carry the future of a nation in their hands.

And that is why remembering Madam Cama today is not just about honoring the past. It is about asking ourselves: are we living up to the promise she made when she held that flag aloft?

Views expressed by the author are their own.