Great Famine of Bengal: Churchill’s Secret War that killed millions

A terrible famine had begun in Bengal in March 1943. This was mainly owing to the scorched earth policy of Britain and also because of the colonial policies and the racial prejudice of Churchill. Historian Madhusree Mukerjee in her book Churchill’s Secret War estimates that 1.5 mn to 3 mn people perished in this man made famine. British government would, per, Lord Wavell, feed only those Indians who were “actually fighting or making munitions or working some particular railways”. India produced 600,000 miles of cotton fabric for British interests during the war, Mukerjee writes. Because of the shortfall and inflation this caused within India, the poorest were reduced to covering themselves with scraps or going naked. Women would have to stay indoors all day waiting for others to return with the single piece of cloth the family possessed. Same thing happened during the first world war but at a smaller scale.  British adopted a scorched earth policy to deny Japan access to food and transport should it invade Bengal, when Japan invaded and conquered Burma. Mukerjee attributes the “scorched earth” approach to Churchill, who reportedly urged it on 14 November 1941. The “rice denial” policy saw soldiers confiscate and destroy rice deemed surplus; according to one journalist, thousands of tons of rice were thrown into the water in East Bengal. The “boat denial” policy saw 46,000 boats able to carry more than ten passengers confiscated; bicycles, carts and elephants were also taken. One British civil servant said the policy “completely broke the economy of the fishing class” in Bengal. Only a despicable liar like Churchill could claim after the war that “No great portion of the world population was so effectively protected from the horrors and perils of the World War as were the peoples of Hindustan [India].