On 23rd July, Thursday the BBC was alleged of “bias” in reporting about Winston Churchill and ruining his reputation with allegations that he was culpable for millions of deaths during the 1943 Bengal famine.
The segment broadcasted on News at Ten on Tuesday explored Britain’s colonial legacy and how Indians today perceived Churchill and his political decisions in British India.
In an interview for the program, historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee of Ashoka University stated that Churchill was “seen as the precipitator of mass killing” because of policies he advocated during the famine. Whereas, Yasmin Khan of Oxford University, argued that Churchill can be squarely blamed for “prioritising white lives over South Asian lives” by failing to send relief.
The program was presented by BBC News India correspondent Yogita Limaye who tweeted that Churchill was viewed as a hero by millions of Britons but Indians blame him for “making the situation worse”.
However, historians who have chronicled Churchill’s political era believe that the BBC program was biased and failed to acknowledge the other side of the Churchill story.
Tirthankar Roy, professor in economic history at the LSE, in an interview with The Times said, “Winston Churchill was not a relevant factor behind the 1943 Bengal famine. The agency with the most responsibility for causing the famine and not doing enough was the government of Bengal.
“It is often said that Churchill prevented import of food in Bengal. This has no relevance either. There was no famine in the rest of British India; the Bengal government could easily import food from other regions.”
A research study by scientists in India and US in March 2019 stated that there was scientific backing for arguments that Churchill-era British policies were a significant factor contributing to the catastrophe. Researchers in India and the US used weather data to simulate the amount of moisture in the soil during six major famines in the subcontinent between 1873 and 1943.
In the meantime, journalist Madhushree Mukerjee, has also argued that the famine was exacerbated by the decisions of Winston Churchill’s wartime cabinet in London.
The Bengal famine of 1943 claimed the lives of up to three million people and was triggered by cyclones and flooding.
