British policy resulted in the death of 100 million people during the Raj. The Bengal famine is just one example and was not even the most deadly.
In Bengal:
Fearing a Japanese invasion through Burma, the British enacted a scorched-earth policy in coastal Bengal. They confiscated or destroyed tens of thousands of boats, bicycles, and carts (the lifeblood of the local transport and fishing economy) and seized rice stocks so the Japanese couldn’t use them. This completely destroyed the rural economy.
Stockpiled food strictly to feed military troops, civil servants, and industrial defense workers in Calcutta. Rural peasants were entirely abandoned to the market.
To pay for the war, the British printed massive amounts of paper currency in India. This caused the price of rice to skyrocket by up to 600%, completely pricing out rural laborers.
When the scale of the famine became global news, other countries offered to help. Canada offered to send ships loaded with 100,000 tons of emergency wheat. The United States also offered food aid. Churchill’s government turned them down, refusing to provide or allow the shipping vessels required to transport the grain to India.
To protect Britain’s international reputation during World War II, the British colonial government heavily censored the Indian press. They banned newspapers from using the word “famine” or publishing photographs of the skeletal bodies lining the streets. It wasn’t until a British editor of an English-language newspaper in Calcutta broke ranks and published gruesome photographs that the British public—and the world—realized the scale of the horror.
When British officials in Bengal like Leo Amery petitioned Churchill for aid he responded with:
Stating it was the fault of Bengalis for breeding like rabbits.
Asking why Gandhi hadn’t died yet.
Stating that he “hated Indians” as they are a “beastly people with a beastly religion”
To which Amery replied: “I am by no means sure whether on this subject [India] Winston is really quite sane… I told him that I didn’t see much difference between his outlook and Hitler’s.”
I don’t fault you for a second for not knowing. Most people don’t know this history because they didn’t want you to know. But it’s all available in the public record if anyone wants to learn more.
With regard to Bengal and India as a whole:
British policy resulted in the death of 100 million people during the Raj. The Bengal famine is just one example and was not even the most deadly.
In Bengal:
Fearing a Japanese invasion through Burma, the British enacted a scorched-earth policy in coastal Bengal. They confiscated or destroyed tens of thousands of boats, bicycles, and carts (the lifeblood of the local transport and fishing economy) and seized rice stocks so the Japanese couldn’t use them. This completely destroyed the rural economy.
Stockpiled food strictly to feed military troops, civil servants, and industrial defense workers in Calcutta. Rural peasants were entirely abandoned to the market.
To pay for the war, the British printed massive amounts of paper currency in India. This caused the price of rice to skyrocket by up to 600%, completely pricing out rural laborers.
When the scale of the famine became global news, other countries offered to help. Canada offered to send ships loaded with 100,000 tons of emergency wheat. The United States also offered food aid. Churchill’s government turned them down, refusing to provide or allow the shipping vessels required to transport the grain to India.
To protect Britain’s international reputation during World War II, the British colonial government heavily censored the Indian press. They banned newspapers from using the word “famine” or publishing photographs of the skeletal bodies lining the streets. It wasn’t until a British editor of an English-language newspaper in Calcutta broke ranks and published gruesome photographs that the British public—and the world—realized the scale of the horror.
When British officials in Bengal like Leo Amery petitioned Churchill for aid he responded with:
Stating it was the fault of Bengalis for breeding like rabbits.
Asking why Gandhi hadn’t died yet.
Stating that he “hated Indians” as they are a “beastly people with a beastly religion”
To which Amery replied: “I am by no means sure whether on this subject [India] Winston is really quite sane… I told him that I didn’t see much difference between his outlook and Hitler’s.”
I don’t fault you for a second for not knowing. Most people don’t know this history because they didn’t want you to know. But it’s all available in the public record if anyone wants to learn more.