Introduction
Colonial Mentality and Winston Churchill
Everything is permissible in love and war. But there has been a person in the history of world politics who chose only ‘war’ for himself and changed the history of the world. The is none other than Winston Churchill, the winner of World War II and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Churchill was not only a politician, a military genius but also a master of the fine arts. He earned a good name in literature, painting, and journalism as well. He always made all the decisions of life wisely. Despite these attributes, he is not a champion of liberalism, pluralism, democracy. It is a colonial mentality that regards him as a so-called great leader of the 20th century.
An Overview of Winston Churchill’s Life
Churchill was an Incompetent Student
As a student, he was criticized by teachers for being an incompetent student. On many occasions, he would earn corporal punishments. He hated the days he spent in the hostel. But all this time passed, and as the 19th century drew to a close.
Fighting to Suppress Freedom Movement in Colonized Sudan
After completing his primary education, he joined the army. Involved in 3 wars on the battlefield itself. The first war in Sudan where he fought against the colonized Sudanese to put down the so-called mutiny. His rival was the religious leader of Sudan, Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdullah.
“I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes…[It] would spread a lively terror.”
Johann Hari (2020) Not his finest hour: The dark side of Winston Churchill. Independent
As a British colony, Sudan was under siege, and Churchill went to the battlefield to extend British imperial rule. This war is also known as the Anglo-Sudanese War. Johann Hari in “Not his finest hour: The dark side of Winston Churchill,” claims Churchill charged off to take his part in what he considered “a lot of jolly little wars against barbarous peoples”.
Do you know?
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on November 30, 1874, in Oxfordshire. He died in London on January 24, 1965. Winston Churchill’s last words were, “I’m bored with it all.”
Participating in the Second Anglo-Boer War in Africa and in World War I
Churchill was actively involved in the Second Anglo-Boer War in Africa and in World War I. He participated in World War II as Prime Minister and Military Leader of the UK.
There are many facets of his military life in Africa and India. Churchill was also responsible for Britain’s decision to participate in World War II.
From Being a Journalist to Prime Minister
He began his career as a soldier and journalist. Later, he became a Member of Parliament in 1901. Churchill rose from Home Secretary to Chief of the Navy and Air Force. Then he took the seats of the Minister of War, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Arms. He twice became the Prime Minister of the UK. The first time, from May 1940 to 1945 and then from 1951 to 1955. Even though Winston Churchill is credited with leading his country to victory in World War II, he has been the subject of controversy.
Do you Know
Churchill came to the Indian subcontinent in 1896. He served in Bombay, Bangalore, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Meerut, Peshawar, and Malakand as a journalist taking part in British-supervised military battles. He later wrote a book containing these memories, The Story of Malakand Field Force, the first book of his life.
Paradox of the 20th Century: Churchill Flirted with Islam
Although Churchill was a staunch opponent of Islam and Muslims, he was a lover of Islamic civilization and culture.
Churchill’s fascination led him and his close friend Wilfrid S. Blunt, the poet and radical supporter of Muslim causes, to dressing in Arab clothes in private while in each other’s company.
Patrick Sawer and Patricksawer, December 2014, The Telegraph
National Post in “Winston Churchill quietly flirted with Islam — to the point that relatives feared he might convert” says, Churchill wore an Arabic robe and dress when he went to his parties. His inclination towards Islamic civilization was so strong that his family feared he converting to Islam. Churchill once wrote in a letter that he wanted to be Pasha. His sister-in-law wrote him a letter in which he wrote, she pleaded him to think otherwise.
In the letter, discovered by Warren Dockter, a history research fellow at Cambridge University, she pleads: “Please don’t become converted to Islam; I have noticed in your disposition a tendency to orientalize [fascination with the Orient and Islam], Pasha-like tendencies, I really have.”
Despite this, he hated Muslims. He referred to Palestinians as “barbaric hordes who ate little but camel dung.”
Winston Churchill was a Robust Character
Many consider Winston Churchill a top-notch leader of the world of politics. It is true since he played a key role in the defeat of Hitler’s Germany in World War II. If there was no Churchill in World War II, the world map would have been different today. He even wanted to overthrow Russia, and for this, he lobbied hard with the Western powers. US President Roosevelt opposed this lobbying, because of which Russia survived.
Winston Churchill Lost 1945 Elections Because of his Image as a Warrior
Unexpectedly, Winston Churchill lost the 1945 elections mainly because of his image as a warrior. Churchill was a war hero but people did not want war but peace. So, Churchill was not a suitable candidate for the reconstruction and peace of Britain. Churchill was a warrior and only war could be expected from a general. The fact is that had Churchill won the 1945 election, the world would have been into a new bloody war.
Do you know?
Winston Churchill ordered the heavy bombardment of the German city of Dresden and killed millions of people, most of them unarmed people.
Colonial Mentality: Winston Churchill’s Hatred towards Subcontinent People
Churchill was a staunch opponent of British colonial independence, refusing to become prime minister simply because he had to preside over India’s independence ceremony as prime minister. His senior cabinet colleague Leo Amery recalled how Churchill had once referred to Indians “as a beastly people with a beastly religion.” Therefore, it is pertinent to say Churchill was a bigoted Englishman who hated Muslims and Indians. He lived in this region for a few years, but his heart never softened for this land.
Winston Churchill’s Racial Slur at Gandhi
Widely respected Gandhi, one of the important leaders in the independence of India also faced his racial slur. Winston Churchill once said,
“He is a malignant subversive fanatic and a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Viceregal palace.”
RAMACHANDRA GUHA 2019, Churchill, the Greatest Briton, Hated Gandhi, the Greatest Indian The Atlantic
This is probably the reason Leopold Amery, Churchill’s own Secretary of State for India considered him no different from Adolph Hitler. He, in his diaries, showed the downsides of Churchill. He said,
“see much difference between [Churchill’s] outlook and Hitler’s.”
Ishaan Tharoor, (2015) The dark side of Winston Churchill’s legacy no one should forget, Washington Post
Colonial Mentality, Winston Churchill and 1943 Bengal Famine
A hurricane and flood in 1942 caused famine in Bengal. The famine killed at least four million people. That is six times the total number of British troops in World War II. This horrific devastation falls on British hands. Eyewitnesses to the devastation recounted how they saw dogs and vultures eating human corpses. They were so hungry that they would have no courage to perform the funeral rites of the deads.
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Colonial Mentality: On his orders, over 170,000 tons of Australian wheat was bypassed starving India
Sumitra Chatterjee, a senior Bengali actor who was eight years old at the time of the Bengal famine, says, “At that time, everyone could see a skeleton with only skin on it. People were all helpless. They would only cry in desperation, begging for a bowl of rice. This shows how Bengal was witnessing a dire famine. Winston Churchill deliberately ignored their call for help. When the local authorities told Churchill for the unspeakable sufferings of the people, he replied,
“People started dying and Churchill said well it’s all their fault anyway for breeding like rabbits. He said ‘I hate the Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion.”
Shashi Tharoor (2017). Inglorious Empire chronicles the atrocities of the British Empire.
Churchill’s Fear of Japan’s Attack on India
Yasmeen Khan, an Oxford University historian, terms it a “strategy of depriving the enemy of resources.” Those days, Britain feared that Japan would overrun India and Burma. Behind this strategy was the idea that not only crops but also boats that could be used to transport crops would have to be destroyed. And when the Japanese would come here, they didn’t have the resources to move on. There is clear evidence of the devastating effects of the strategy of depriving the enemy of resources. This strategy was successful but nearly 4 million famine-stricken people perished.
“This is a man the British would have us hail as an apostle of freedom and democracy when he has as much blood on his hands as some of the worst genocidal dictators of the 20th century.”
Shashi Tharoor (2017). Inglorious Empire chronicles the atrocities of the British Empire
Malthusian Trap, Winston Churchill and Colonial Mentality
The diaries of then British officials also support this thesis. For months, Churchill’s government rejected their requests for an immediate supply of food to India. It is because the British government at the time feared it will reduce food stocks for the British soldiers fighting WW I. Shashi Tharoor terms it a Malthusian strategy or Malthusian Trap.
This philosophy says when the population increases exponentially, there comes famines to level the food-people ratio. It simply means Indian people have exponentially increased and they must die. It also says that famines are natural and the people should not receive any external help.
Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio, Subsistence, increases only in an arithmetical ratio.
An Essay on The Principle of Population, First Edition 1798, Page. 14
Colonial Mentality: 31 Famines in 120 Years of British Raj
There were 31 serious famines in the 120 years of British rule compared with 17 famines in the 2,000 years before British rule.
Mike Davis, (2001) Late Victorian Holocausts
Moreover, Lord Wavell, the then British Viceroy in India, wrote that the Bengal famine was the greatest catastrophe that befell India during the British rule. To him, it was impossible to estimate the damage done, not only to the people but also to the British Empire’s reputation.
Colonial Mentality: British must Reparate and Apologize
At the moment, there is no formal demand from Pakistan, India, or Bangladesh to apologize or reparate. But, there is a blurred expectation that the UK must apologize for what it has done to India in the past. It especially must feel sorry for the untoward incidents like the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and the Bengal famine.
Many in Britain are now questioning the legacy of Britain’s colonial past and the leaders of that era. In that case, Churchill’s statue in central London was defaced last month during the “Black Lives Matter” protest against black lives. This bears testimony to the fact that the rosy picture of the British raj was corrupt and exploitative.
Colonial Mentality: Winston Churchill Saved Millions of British but Killed Manifold more Bengalis
Demolishing statues or defaming these characters is not the way forward. If one weighs past against today’s standards, perhaps no such hero in the world will survive. So, Winston Churchill is a hero for the British people but not for the former colonies. He did save millions of British people but he is also responsible for millions of avoidable deaths in Bengal.
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