Bengal Famine of 1943 Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Bengal Famine of 1943, examining its causes, consequences, and the roles played by the British and Indian governments. It explores various perspectives on the famine's origins, including the impact of World War II, governmental policies, and the resulting food shortages. The report details the devastating effects on the population, including widespread starvation, death, and societal disruption. Furthermore, it analyzes the famine's influence on the politics of Southeast Asia and the world, highlighting its contribution to the weakening of the British Empire and the rise of nationalist sentiments in India. The report concludes by summarizing different scholarly interpretations of the event, including debates about the extent of governmental negligence and the role of food distribution policies.

BENGAL FAMINE
Student Name:
Student ID:
Professor Name:
Assignment Name:
1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Objectives........................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference List..................................................................................................................................9
2

Introduction
In this research paper, the sincere efforts will be made in illustrating the discussion on the Bengal
Famine which occurred during 1943. While analysing this event, the sincere efforts will be made
upon the explanation of the research problem from different perspectives. While illustrating the
discussion, the diametrical research topic will be analysed from the different point of views using
different secondary sources, such as books, journals etc. In addition, the objectives of the
research will be illustrated with the help of which, it will be understood what major areas are
going to be covered while illustrating the discussion on the objectives1. Apart from the
objectives, the brief overview will be given before illustrating the discussion on the Bengal
Famine in an in-detail manner. The reasons of the Bengal Famine will also be highlighted. In
addition, it will also be discussed what role the provincial Governments of India and Central
Government played in combating this situation. Moreover, the discourse will also be made on the
effects of the Bengal Famine of 1943. The influence of Bengal Famine on the Southeast Asian
and world politics will be discussed. The different opinions will also be highlighted with respect
to the reasons for the occurrence of the Bengal Famine in the year 1943. Hence, it can be said
that this research paper will be made with the objective of highlighting different aspects of the
famine occurred in the undivided Bengal in the
Objectives
The entire research topic will be based upon the some of the objectives. The objectives of the
research paper are as follows:
● To find out the reasons, which led to the occurrence of Bengal Famine in the year 1943
● To find out the overview of the Bengal Famine in the year 1943
● To find out the extent it has affected the-then economy of the undivided Bengal
● To find out the extent to which the Bengal Famine of 1943 influences the-then politics of
Southeast Asia
● To analyse the role of the-then His Majesty’s Government in combating this Bengal
Famine in the year 1943
1 Bhattacharya, Sourit. "Colonial Governance, Disaster, and the Social in Bhabani Bhattacharya's Novels of the 1943
Bengal Famine." ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature 47, no. 4 (2016): 45-70.
3

● To analyse the role of the Indian leadership in combating this issue with special reference
to the nature of the-then politics of India
● To find out the effect of this awful event on the-then literature and movies
Discussion
While making an illustration on the discussion on the Bengal Famine, which occurred in the year
1943, some of its aspects can be highlighted.
Overview
Bengal Famine occurred in the year 1943. It was a time when the whole world was at war. It was
a turbulent time in the politics of Bengal as well as of India. It was a turbulent time in the politics
of Southeast Asia too because of the involvement of Japan in the world war and the British
Empire felt threatened because of the aggression policy adopted by the Imperial Japan in the
context of Southeast Asia. The British Government lost Singapore and Burma to Japan2. At this
point of time, almost all of the districts of the Bengal have been destroyed because of the
negligence from the-then British Government in the context of maintaining economic stability in
the undivided Bengal. However, it is not only undivided Bengal region, which had been affected
due to the prevalence of the famine. The Bihar and Orissa region were also affected due to the
occurrence of Famine. The eastern part of Bengal (Now Bangladesh) was heavily affected due to
the occurrence of the Bengal Famine in the year 1943. The approximation of 3 million people in
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa had faced death due to the prevalence of different factors such as
malnutrition. Many people were starving due to the famine in Bengal. This Bengal Famine of
1943 has brought disturbance in the-then socio-political condition. In addition, the undivided
Bengal had faced major economic disaster due to the occurrence of the Bengal Famine in the
year 1943. In this context, the bright light can be shed upon the reasons, which paved the way for
the creation of the Bengal Famine in the year 19433.
Reasons
2 Bhattacharya, Sourit. "Colonial Governance, Disaster, and the Social in Bhabani Bhattacharya's Novels of the 1943
Bengal Famine." ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature 47, no. 4 (2016): 45-70.
3 Sasson, Tehila, and James Vernon. "Practising the British way of famine: technologies of relief, 1770–
1985." European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire 22, no. 6 (2015): 860-872.
4

When it comes to the matter of illustrating the reasons for the occurrence of the Bengal Famine,
many things can be discussed through the utilisation of different point of views. The main reason
was that His Majesty’s Government and the-then provincial Government of undivided Bengal
has shown inability and inaction oriented approach while dealing with the famine in the
undivided Bengal. It resulted in the reduction of supply for meeting the increasing demands of
the crops and foods. The supply of the food had been decreasing because the main exporter of
the rice Burma was under the colonial yoke of Imperial Japan. The production of the Aman rice
crop had been decreasing thereby resulting in creating the shortages in the production of food.
Consequently, a large number of people in Bihar, Orissa and Bengal were hit by malnutrition,
hunger etc. A large number of people migrated from Burma to the undivided Bengal, which
results in creating the increasing demand for food and the Government was unable to meet the
demands of the people4. In this way, shortages of food production were created. The food was
continuously being supplied to the other parts of India from the undivided Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa thereby resulting in the creation of food crisis. However, the shortage in food production
was created due to the British Government’s reluctance in making improvement in the situation.
Rather they focus on supplying food for the British Army who was fighting in the jungles of
Burma against the Japanese army and its ally Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army). In
addition, the foods and crops were supplied to British Soldiers who had been fighting in the
Europe and Africa. When the whole of the undivided Bengal, Bihar and Orissa were being
affected due to the occurrence of famine in the Bengal, the-then Prime Minister of His Majesty’s
Government Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill refused to offer minimum cooperation.
There are some factors, which can be held responsible in the context of the occurrence of the
famine in Bengal, such as, inflation, uneven expansion of purchasing power, along with the
income, prevalence of inequalities in food and crops distribution etc.5.
The role of the-then Provincial Governments and the Central Government of India
The inactive role played by the provincial governments of India can be held responsible for the
occurrence of the Bengal Famine in the year 1943. The provincial Governments of India under
4 Mukherjee, Janam. Hungry Bengal: War, Famine and the End of Empire. Oxford University Press, 2015.
5 Currey, Bruce, and Graeme Hugo, eds. Famine: As a geographical phenomenon. Vol. 1. Springer Science &
Business Media, 2012.
5

the British Empire played important role in creating trade barriers. Through the creation of trade
barriers, the other provinces of India had been successful in preventing the crops and food from
being moved to the other parts of India, especially in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. The illegal act of
black marketing had been increasing day by day thereby resulting in increasing the act of storing
foods in an illegal manner at the time of food crisis in Bengal. The approximation of sixty-five
percent people in the eastern part of undivided Bengal was unable to meet their basic
physiological requirements thereby resulting in increasing the intensity of malnutrition and
hunger. For dealing with this adverse situation, the British Government of India had no option
but to intervene in this matter. It requested the other provincial Government of India for
removing the trade barriers and for making this a reality, the Government of India had made
sincere efforts for materialising this proposal through the optimum utilisation of negotiation
method6. However, this measure was proved to be vain as the Central Government did not have
any authority to intervene in the matters related to activities of provincial Governments of India.
In that case, the central government had no option but to give threats to the provincial
Governments for materialising the proposal of free movement of the crops and foods. At the time
of the arrival of Viceroy Wavell into the power, the effective improvement could be shown in the
context of the free movement of crops and foods from one province to another. The undivided
Bengal got the fruit of these measures taken by the Central Government of India. However, the
British Government had shown negligence in dealing with this situation keeping in mind the
interests of its army fighting in the battlefield of Europe against Nazi Germany and in the
battlefield of Asia against Imperial Japan7. Despite being aware of the possible occurrence of the
famine in Bengal, Prime Minister Churchill did not take effective measures for preventing this
awful event from happening. The free trade had been introduced in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa,
which had been proved as failure later on. Looting of the crops, grains, foods, and corruption,
black marketing had been rampant at that time8.
6 Digby, William, and Dadabhai Naoroji. "Bengal Famine of 1943." Economic & Political Weekly 49, no. 11 (2014):
71.
7 Zink, J. "Amartya Sen and the media." Real-World Economics Review 72 (2015): 69-95.
8 Milliken, Jason E. "Long Term Effects of Early Life Malnourishment: The Bengal Famine of 1943." Ph.D. diss.,
Miami University, 2015.
6

The effects of Bengal Famine of 1943
While illustrating the discussion on the effects of Bengal Famine of 1943, it can be said that the
diametrical political system was disrupted in the eastern part of India. In most of the cases, the
entire villages had become "no man's land". Every person had no option but to live with
starvation due to the occurrence of famine. Because of the prevalence of famine in Bengal, the
fathers had no option but to see their children dying out of malnutrition. In this way, the
population of Bengal had been decreasing day by day. In some cases, the people had no option
but to kill each other for getting food. Some people engaged themselves in human trafficking for
the sake of livelihoods. In this way, the moral of the entire society had come down thereby
resulting in creating the disruption in the entire society across the eastern part of India. The
agriculture had been heavily affected. The Governments had been unable to work on the process
of meeting demands of the people for food as the sign of significant reduction in the supply
could be evident during 1943. The sign of food shortages was evident in cities like Calcutta. The
Central Government of India and other provincial Governments had faced utter failure in dealing
with this adverse situation of famine. The whole of the disaster management system introduced
by the Central Government and provincial Governments had been proved to be an utter failure9.
Influence of Bengal Famine on Southeast Asian and world politics
When it comes to the matter of discussing the influence of Bengal Famine on South East Asia, it
can be said the Japan and Britain had been influenced to a great extent. The British Empire was
on the verge of its decline as it had lost Burma and Singapore, the most important colonies of the
British Empire. Because of the increased demand for the foods and crops, the major portions of
Indian crops and foods were sent to the British Army thereby resulting in meeting their demand
for foods. The many uprisings took place in the British India against the Government. The
discontent has been growing in India, especially in Bengal, because of the ignorant attitude of the
Government in safeguarding the interests of the people. The revolutionary activities had been
increasing simultaneously. In this way, the British Empire became weak and after the end of the
Second World War, most of the colonies of the British Empire gained independence.
After the invasion of Burma, most of the people of Burma came to India. It creates a food crisis
in the eastern part of India. The export of rice was banned after Burma became the part of the
9 Gráda, Cormac Ó. Eating People Is Wrong, and Other Essays on Famine, Its Past, and Its Future. Princeton
University Press, 2015.
7

Imperial Japan. However, the Imperial Japan could not hold its empire for a long time and soon
it was dissolved after the end of the Second World War10.
Conclusion
Different scholars have interpreted this incident from different aspects. It has been stated by
some scholars that Bengal Famine is none other than a fabricated disaster. Despite not having
food shortages, the Central Government has utilised the entire food production facilities for
safeguarding the interests of the British Army. The redistribution of the available foods and
crops can be held responsible for the occurrence of the famine in the undivided Bengal. The
British Government had to show utter negligence in the context of dealing with this famine in the
undivided Bengal. The picture of the Bengal Famine can be got from the dramas and novels
written at that time.
10 Kaur, Rajender. "The vexed question of peasant passivity: nationalist discourse and the debate on peasant
resistance in literary representations of the Bengal famine of 1943." Journal of Postcolonial Writing 50, no. 3
(2014): 269-281.
8

Reference List
Bhattacharya, Sourit. "Colonial Governance, Disaster, and the Social in Bhabani Bhattacharya's
Novels of the 1943 Bengal Famine." ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature 47,
no. 4 (2016): 45-70.
Bhattacharya, Sourit. "Colonial Governance, Disaster, and the Social in Bhabani Bhattacharya's
Novels of the 1943 Bengal Famine." ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature 47,
no. 4 (2016): 45-70.
Currey, Bruce, and Graeme Hugo, eds. Famine: As a geographical phenomenon. Vol. 1.
Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.
Digby, William, and Dadabhai Naoroji. "Bengal Famine of 1943." Economic & Political
Weekly 49, no. 11 (2014): 71.
Gráda, Cormac Ó. Eating People Is Wrong, and Other Essays on Famine, Its Past, and Its
Future. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Kaur, Rajender. "The vexed question of peasant passivity: nationalist discourse and the debate on
peasant resistance in literary representations of the Bengal famine of 1943." Journal of
Postcolonial Writing 50, no. 3 (2014): 269-281.
Milliken, Jason E. "Long Term Effects of Early Life Malnourishment: The Bengal Famine of
1943." PhD diss., Miami University, 2015.
Mukherjee, Janam. Hungry Bengal: War, Famine and the End of Empire. Oxford University
Press, 2015.
Sasson, Tehila, and James Vernon. "Practising the British way of famine: technologies of relief,
1770–1985." European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire 22, no. 6 (2015): 860-
872.
Zink, J. "Amartya Sen and the media." Real-World Economics Review 72 (2015): 69-95.
9