Reference Material : Churchill's Secret War by Madhushree
Mukherjee
The years 1942 and 1943 will remain etched in
Indian History as one of the most horrifying in recent memory, with the onset
of the Bengal Famine, a famine in which nearly 5.4 estimated Indians perished.
This famine has been researched by Ms Madhushree Mukherjee in her book Churchill’s
Secret War, and reveals a stunning story of official apathy and brutality.
Scorched Earth policy was implemented by the
"gentle" "civilized" "human" British in Bengal,
Assam and much of East India. The horrifying impact of this has to be read to
be understood! Fact 2: food was continuously sent to Europe to feed the
newly-liberated European lands, to build a stockpile for the Invasion, and to
buttress British food stocks. This was done even when there was no need for
such heavy stockpiling. This was done even as Indians were dying by the
millions... if anyone stock-piled food during the famine, it was the British.
Food was deliberately not sent to India, or
retained in India just so the British
could be well-fed. In the same Bengal, the British were eating 5-course meals!
The book proves that the British were holding stocks of food that were far in
excess of what they required. Thus, they not only caused the problem, they also
exacerbated it. Aid from other nations was denied by the authorities. Shipping
issues, as well as offers for aid were not implemented, while exports of food
took place, despite the severity of the situation
The resulting mess and mass death forced the
British to constitute a Famine Commission, whose terms and whose approach
remains unchallenged to this day, at least till the advent of this superb
research by Ms Mukherjee spanning a wide spectrum of original documents from
both India as well as the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and is a treatise of
the highest order.
The Famine Commission did not do a fair analysis,
of that their can be no doubt whatsoever, as a study of the records shows. As
per the data, in late 1943, the then Vicerow Wavell recieved pressure from
Bengal for an enquiry. The Secretary of State for India had advised
against any definitive commitment {quote from book, pg 267}.
Later on, they had to succumb to an enquiry; but
things got very interesting from that point on. Specific conditions were
imposed on the topics which the enquiry was permitted to consider. These
would include an avoidance of strategical and other circumstances as may have
contributed to internal transportation difficulties or affected H.M.G's
decisions in regard to shipping of imports. Nor was th commission permitted to
summon testimonies from anyone who has since left India (Such as Linlithgow) -
page 267. Endnote reference given is 2, which tallies with Mansberg, the
transfer of power, Vol IV, 461, 468, 725
Thus, the commission looked only at local factors,
and ignored any leads that indicted London. Is that fair? I dont think so.
"For Instance, although the commission
deplored the policy of food and boat denial, it heard nothing about the
Scorched Earth orders issed by the War Cabinet. The Commission also left the
impression that that only imports of rice, not wheat, would have broken the
famine, which was far from having been the case. Nor did it discuss any of the
international offers of aid that were rejected" Pg 267
Note that : Scorched Earth was employed NOT by the
Nazis - but by the people who claim to have saved the world - and in our India.
Also note the term Strategic : I am at a total loss of words at this...
Continuing on the same page, 267 - I quote :
"Hints of a cover-up abound. Amery's diary
do not contain any mention of Scorched Earth, and his papers are missing
the pertinent correspondence with India. The testimonies submitted to the
famine commission were reportedly to have been destroyed [except for one copy
that survived as the Nanavati Papers]. Civil Servant Leonard G Pinnell stated
in his unpublished memoir that he had restrained his own set of testimonies,
but its location is unknown. The unpublished memoir of civil servant Olaf
Martin, written some time after the war, is missing pages that appear to have
dealt with his refusal to serve as chief secretary of Bengal. 'At time time, I
had to be careful what I said' Martin recalled of 1943, 'just as at present, I
have to be careful what I write" Endnote reference is 4, which is
doubly damning : CSAC, Olaf C Martin Papers, Memoir, 247 {Pages
312-331 are missing}; Mitra, Tin Kuri Dash, 167
At least one India Office File on rice exports to
Ceylon has been destroyed, and another on Canada's offer for wheat is missing.
No figures could be found for Rice exports from India in 1943-1944.
" In the Minutes of a meeting of the
Chiefs of Staff, available on microfilm at th National Archives of The United
Kingdom, a section dealing with shipping to India is blacked out"- pg
267. Cabinet Secretaries notes on War cabinet discussions stop abruptly in
mid-1943 - Just before Cherwell, Leathers and Grigg made their August Decision
to deny relief to Bengal. The papers of Laurence Burgis make no mention of
India in Aug 4, 1944 when Amery compared Churchill with Hitler.
It appears that the famine commission also
suppressed the results of a government sponsored survey on famine mortality,
and presented its own instead.
The above facts are saying only one thing - the
commission looks like a sham to cover up one of the most heinous crimes committed by
any human or set of humans on this planet. The book goes on to prove that the
famine toll was around 5.4 Million. And few people in even India, let alone the
West, are aware of this dastardly act that I call a Holocaust was forced on our
hapless people.
Germany was made to pay reparations, war crimes
were punished, nations have apologized for its ill-deeds - but to this day
their has been no justice for the victims of this unknown holocaust; let alone
justice - there hasnt even been an apology... that is the truth. The
perpetrators of this crime are no more, most of them... and there the matter
ends. Now, it is only a question of a apology, let us not forget that the
current generation have done nothing to harm us! A genuine apology would
suffice!
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