The Untold Story of the Bengal Famine
Written by Prisha Gupta and edited by Aanya Sethi
Hunger was ever-present, every hour it looked them in the eye, and refused to step aside. Food became more than a need: a constant obsession. The children no longer played or laughed; they held themselves back just to save energy. In a society where no one has killed, stolen or lied for food, surviving became the utmost priority. There was something about the hunger that robbed the people of their spirit, of their dreams, of their youth. There was no drought, yet they were left to starve.
The Bengal Famine of 1943 was a famine in British India during World War II. The event caused over three million deaths because of starvation, malaria and other diseases aggravated by malnutrition, population displacement, unsanitary conditions and lack of health care. During the years, families were separated, men sold their farmlands to look for work, and women and children became homeless migrants.
Throughout history, this famine is one of the only one caused by human error rather than of natural causes.
A study, published in the Geophysical Research Letters, provided scientific evidence as to the cause of the famine using weather and soil data. The study shows that even though Eastern India experienced a severe drought in the 1940s, the amount of rainfall was above average in late 1943, which is known to be the peak of the famine. A loss in soil moisture leads to crop failure, thus a shortage of food. However, due to the abundant rainfall, it was
proved that the famine did not take place because of natural causes.
Other studies and investigations have pointed out that Churchill’s unfair policies could have contributed to this devastating famine.
Japan, an axis power, had an active naval presence in the Bay of Bengal in the early 1940s and had taken over Burma in 1942. Due to this, Churchill diverted large supplies of food grains, such as rice, from the coastal areas in order
to prevent any access to food to the Japanese in case they invaded the country. Then, boats and other forms of transportation were destroyed, which stopped the distribution of food in the area. This also restricted inter-state trade of rice and other food grains.
Furthermore, the British government refused to declare the event a famine at that time, which would have allowed the government to act on supplementary reserves. According to Mukherjee, a journalist who wrote the book “Churchill’s Secret War”, Churchill was sending food supplies to Britain and other European countries and denying access to Bengal. The British also prioritized distribution of vital supplies to civil servants and the military instead of to the civilians.
This event had devastating effects on Bengal as well as India. After the famine, the social structure of Bengal was severely disturbed. Large landowners in the area, who usually supported the poor in times of crisis, had exhausted their own resources and were unable to help the poor. There was an increase in the abandonment of families, prostitution, sexual exploitation and child selling. Before the British came to India, it was not only the biggest exporter of textiles across the world but also one of the richest countries on Earth. There was a fair amount of stability and a flourishing economy in the country.
British rule did much more harm than good.
It is important that the history of the British era is retold because the Bengal Famine was just one of the untold, hidden stories.
DISCLAIMER: The words of the authors are their own. The Archive does not affiliate with or hold any liability for anything stated by any contributor.
Bibliography
- Balakrishnan, Uday. “The Preventable Bengal Famine.” The Hindu, The Hindu, 16 Sept. 2019, www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-preventable-bengal- famine/article29432584.ece.
- Kuchay, Bilal. “Churchill's Policies to Blame for 1943 Bengal Famine: Study.” India News |Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 1 Apr. 2019, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/churchill-%20policies-blamed-1943-bengal-famine-study-190401155922122.html.
- Pti. “Bengal Famine of 1943 Caused by British Policy Failure, Not Drought: Study.” The Economic Times, Economic Times, 20 Mar. 2019,
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bengal-famine-of-1943-%20caused-by-british-policy-failure-not-drought%20study/articleshow/68495710.cms?from=mdr. - Staff, Scroll. “New Soil Study Confirms 1943 Bengal Famine Was Caused by WinstonChurchill's Policies, Not Drought.” Scroll.in, Scroll.in, 30 Mar. 2019, http://scroll.in/article/918373/new-soil-study-confirms-1943-bengal-famine-was-caused-by-%20winston-churchills-policies-not-drought.