The Great Bengal Famine 1943: A Natural Catastrophe or Colonial Biopolitics

The great Bengal famine is the most catastrophic event which took place during the British colonial period in present West Bengal in India in 1943. The famine devastated the lives of million people and also shattered the socio-economic status of Bengali society. The Rangpur, Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri districts of Bengal were the most suffered regions due to the famine and peoples mostly suffered from hunger, epidemics and  mal-nutrition. The great famine nearly killed  3 million peoples and the cause of the famine was merely not due to drought or natural event but colonial biopolitics as per research and studies.

Pic: Relief committee at Kolkata during 1943 and investigation behind the cause of great famine

The genesis of great Bengal famine had many divergent opinions from economists, scholars and leaders. According to economist B.M. Bhatia in his book “Famines in India: A Study in Some Aspects of the Economic History of India, 1860-1965" categorized the Bengal famine as a man-made disaster due to policy miss-management. As per his research highlights the Bengal famine turned into a catastrophe due to heavy impact of cyclone in Midnapore and surrounded regions which resulted in fall in rice production up to 2.4 million tons during 1942-43. Further, the invasion of Japanese army into Burma (Present Myanmar) affected the import of nearly 0.2 million tonnes of rice from Burma and influx of refugees from Burma into Chittagong region of Bengal increased the food scarcity.

The commence of second World War II and Governmental procurement policy giving priority of food supply to official and military requirement harshened the situation in Bengal. As per the Government policy "Denial Policy" in 1942, the surplus paddy and rice in the Japanese invasion prone areas like Khulna, Bakharganj and 24 Parganas were diverted for military requirements. Further, the "Boat Removal Policy" which removes nearly26,000 country boats from Noakhali, Tripura, 24 Parganas and Chittagong regions Bengal affected the peasants, weavers and also curbed the food supply into Bengal. According to the Census of India in 1951, the 1942-43 cyclone and floods initially reduced the rice production in Bengal followed by hindrance of import of rice from Burma due to Japanese invasion. The diversification of food supply for military requirement in World War II by colonial rulers and lack of inadequate policy and relief let to famine followed by emergence  of epidemics viz, Malaria, Cholera and smallpox due to mal-nutrition. Apart form famine the reports says that nearly 77,000 people might have died due to Cholera alone in November, 1943 as per Amery, the Secretary of State of India.

The economist Prof. Amartya Kumar Sen in his entitled work "Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation" throw some lights at Bengal famine, 1943 that the starvation and famine in Bengal was due to shift in "Exchange Entitlements" and appended his discussion stating that the food production in 1493 was 13 per cent higher than 1941. He put forth his argument that Bengal famine was not due to the drastic shortage of food grains but due to the gross mismanagement and deliberate profiteering. The famine led to loss of lives of millions of peoples, their traditional livelihood, earnings, land holdings and socio-economic foundation of Bengal peoples and led them towards paucity, dispossession of food and finally starvation.

In 1944, the Government of British India put forth "Wood Head Commission" to investigate the 1943 Bengal famine and the commission recommended the establishment of  "Directorate of Plant protection Quarantine and Storage (DPPQS)". Accordingly, DPPQS was established in 1946 with head quarter situated in Faridabad, India. DPPQS main objective was to advise and assist Union Governments in international obligation related to plant protection, implementation integrated pest management technique, qualify control of pesticides and locust control and research.

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