Under normal circumstances, one would not respond or react to an organization which matters little to people in my country and that is located thousands of miles away from us.
But these are not normal times. Because as a nation-state India is on the roll and we 1.4 billion Indians have become intolerant to bullshit. We no longer look up to white skin and in fact, like the rest of the non-western world, we despise white skin. They ruled the world for two centuries, subjugated people, and killed and tortured millions of Indians- you cannot forget the Bengal famine ever- at least we will not. It is time to take out millions of skeletons out of white man’s black cupboard.
Hold on- when you point one finger at someone three fingers point back at you. Let us first settle your three backwards-pointing white British fingers at Great (oh no more great) Britain. You need a rap on the knuckles too.
Bengal famine- A ghastly glimpse
BBC is putting its finger in the 2002 Gujarat Riots which have been long settled by our Supreme Court- so who the hell are you to poke your nosey nose in our affairs?
These riots were riots and very much spontaneous lasting a few days where 1,044 died. It was triggered by the Godhra train burning that occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002, in which 59 Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express train near the Godhra railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat. The Gujarat riots were of course a backlash to this attack.
But the Bengal famine was the systematic strangulation of 3.8 million Indians over a period of months in 1942-43. Was it any short of the Concentration camps you cry so much about? No, I don’t think so. The pictures of starving Bengalis are as ghastly as Auschwitz concentration camp.
According to an Utsa Patnaik, economist John Maynard Keynes, who was an advisor on Indian Financial and Monetary Affairs for the British Government, advocated for “profit inflation” in order to finance war spending, which increased the price of rice and reduced food consumption of the general population. The rise in prices was “not disturbing” until 1941, when it became more alarming. Then in early 1943, the rate of inflation for food grains in particular took an unprecedented upward turn.
Nearly the full output of India’s cloth, wool, leather and silk industries were sold to the military under the British Raj. Suppliers were required to sell goods to the military on ‘credit’ and at fixed, low prices. However, firms were left free to charge any price they desired in their domestic market for whatever they had ‘left over’. The method of credit financing was tailored to UK wartime needs
Anticipating a Japanese invasion via the border of Bengal, the British launched a ‘pre-emptive’ preplanned, two-pronged scorched-earth initiative in Bengal to deny the invaders access to food supplies.
First, a “denial of rice” policy was carried out in areas with surpluses of rice. The second prong, a “boat denial” policy, was designed to deny Bengali transport to any invading Japanese army.
Army could confiscate any boat and allowed them to requisition other means of transport such as bicycles, bullock carts, and elephants. Army confiscated approximately 45,000 rural boats, severely disrupting river-borne movement of labor, supplies and food, and compromising the livelihoods of boatmen and fishermen.
Years before the most extreme stage of the famine, when newspapers began to publish images of the dying on the streets of Calcutta, ‘against the wishes of the colonial British administration’. The British had ample time to react. They did react but for their own benefit letting millions starve to death.
More recent studies, including those by the journalist Madhushree Mukerjee, have argued the famine was exacerbated by the decisions of Winston Churchill’s wartime cabinet in London which was warned repeatedly that the exhaustive use of Indian resources for the war effort could result in famine, but it opted to continue exporting rice from India to elsewhere in the empire.
All this in your national interest and to cover you’re royal behind.
Rice stocks continued to leave India even as London was denying urgent requests from India’s viceroy for more than 1 million tons of wheat supplies in 1942-43. Churchill has been quoted as blaming the famine on the Indians, saying that Indians were “breeding like rabbits”. He had also asked, if people die from starvation, how Mahatma Gandhi was still alive despite his numerous hunger strikes.
I urge our respected filmmakers in India to make a film ‘Churchill Files’ and release it in Royal Albert Hall in London.
A bit about BBC the holy cow
From its foundation in 1922 after the WW I, The British Broadcasting Corporation had advocated principles of truth and objectivity in reporting and of independence from governmental control. However, these principles were more of a dream than reality, something that had constantly to be negotiated with, and defended against the British Government.
The government justified its intervention in the BBC’s broadcasting on foreign affairs with the ‘national interest’ in mind. Over the years a close cooperation—or rather an ‘uneasy compromise’—evolved. Eventually, it became a medium of Whitehall’s transnational propaganda campaign.
Thereafter ‘A continuous routine contact that had built up over the years between senior personnel in Broadcasting House, Whitehall and Westminster meant that they all abided by the same rules and codes of conduct’. Although Whitehall closely supervised the BBC’s broadcasting on foreign affairs—and in particular the output of its foreign-language services—the BBC in public claimed that objectivity was its guiding principles.
Before Churchill, Chamberlain was the Prime Minister of England and he realized that Britain was militarily unprepared for war against Germany. Propaganda through BBC offered a small chance to avert war by winning over the German public.
For every action there has to be a motive
This is the most interesting part of the game white man plays. Brits consider them the custodians of the white race- the 24 carat pure whites.
With an upper stiff lip they have been used to looking down upon people across the world including other European whites. They cannot and will not accept the winds of change.
The United Kingdom has entered a recession in the third quarter of 2022, which could last until the end of 2023.
The Ukraine war has put further pressure on prices, particularly energy and food. UK prices are already squeezed by labor shortages, a slow post-pandemic recovery and the effects of Brexit.
They are a nation in crisis. Liz Truss the outgoing Prime Minister- who lasted for only 45 days in office and may not even have unpacked her stuff in ten Downing Street, had said that she had come into office at a time of significant international and economic instability, with families concerned about how they would pay their bills. She was elected with a mandate to fix the “low growth” that was holding the U.K. back, by lowering taxes and returning to high growth.
“I recognize though given this situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected”.
Now they have a brown man in the PM’s chair to save their white skin. And of course, he will work things out for a freebee society. The welfare state is a big part of British family life, with 20.3 million families receiving some kind of benefit (64% of all families). Most are not fit to or willing to work and want to live a pub life on the government dole. Their earlier generations worked hard, schemed harder and created a hoard of wealth on which these guys are living- off the land.
They for Christ’s sake cannot see or digest that India which they ruled for two hundred years is doing so well and has become the fastest growing economy, lauded by IMF, World Bank and even the United Nations.
They also know they have put their big foot in their mouth by supporting Americano egged Ukraine war. UREA in short (Ukraine Russia, Europe and America). They also know that once this war is over- whenever- the huge cache of arms and unemployed mercenaries will look for an action-packed employment and what is more cosier and softer than Britain- if they can’t work, how will they fight- the breed of second World War is dead and gone. This time the English Channel will not save them as it did in 1940.
So how to play dog in the manger? The only way is to hit out at the leader of this great nation which has for the first time collectively woken up. And Brits are aware of this, in fact the whole world is aware of a changed stance.
So make as much noise in whatever way possible is the basic premise. Soft propaganda by their old, time-tested faithful dog BBC has to do it. Don’t forget guys in British Broadcasting Conglomerate are Brits too.
Let me put things in the correct perspective
As mentioned earlier, the Supreme Court has exonerated Shri Narendra Modi in the Gujrat Riots case when he was the Chief Minister. People across the world accept it so we don’t need any so-called truth from you please.
KPS Gill known as a super cop is one of the most respected police officers of the country. He was speaking at the launch of his biography- ‘KPS Gill: The Paramount Cop’ which was attended by eminent personalities like Indian Express editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta, former CBI director PC Sharma and others.
In the book, Gill has lavished praise on Modi saying he had “sincere” intentions to end the violence and accused other parties of trying to defame him. “I realized that people of all political parties who were anti-Modi and anti-BJP were taking advantage of this mayhem and making all efforts to defame Modi one way or the other,” he says.
Speaking to reporters, he said that after taking charge as the security advisor of the state, he had visited all places where violence had taken place and policemen from top to bottom refuted having received any direction of the type being mentioned.
We trust Mr. Gill more than any white stooges.
So BBC your series has been banned for a reason, we cannot let a foreign agency malign our name.
Footnote
BBC is a repeat offender. In 1970 the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi banned BBC from India for nearly two years as they were showing India in bad light. Their Delhi office was locked up by the government. So nothing new for us.
Even if you tell a lie thousand times you will make no impact. You know uttered similar words?
