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...