The popular answer is that Britain became weak after WW2 and hence maintaining colonies became expensive.
Remember that the might of the British empire increased after first world war. They were able to control the Indian unrest by enacting the draconian Rowlatt Act, which essentially extended the wartime repressive measures. The Jallianwala Bagh incident and the secret Inquisition in Punjab and Cellular jails demonstrated the superiority of colonial rulers in India.
But India obtained its freedom not because of WW2 or the passive struggle of Gandhi. The heroic battles fought by INA soldiers in the NE jungles had awakened people. Netaji was sure that if INA succeeds in hoisting its flag in India, then that will awaken the dormant freedom spirit of Indians. Even though the Japanese and INA soldiers were defeated in the battle of Imphal/Kohima, their sacrifices did not go in vain. The trial of INA leaders and the 1946 navy mutiny forced the British to quit.
When the former PM Lord Clement Atlee visited India after independence, he had a friendly chat with the former Chief Justice of Kolkata HC, P.B. Chakrabarty. His direct question to Atlee was that since Gandhi’s Quit India movement had tapered off quite some time ago and in 1947 no such new compelling situation had arisen that would necessitate a hasty British departure, why did they have to leave? Moreover, the victorious allies had plundered Germany, Japan and Netaji's INA. The havoc of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had brought Japan to its heels. The world was ideologically and politically divided into Communist and Capitalist blocks.
In his reply Atlee cited several reasons, the principal among them being the erosion of loyalty to the British Crown among the Indian army and navy personnel as a result of the military activities of Netaji. Toward the end of our discussion he asked Atlee what was the extent of Gandhi’s influence upon the British decision to quit India. Hearing this question, Atlee's lips became twisted in a sarcastic smile as he slowly chewed out the word, mi-ni-mal.
After the Indian independence, Britain could no longer hold on to colonies in Africa and Asia. The reason is that services of Indian soldiers and the resources from India were not available. The grains from India were exported to feed the troops and laborers in colonies. It was the Indian soldiers who fought most of the war as cannon fodders while the coward white men hid in trenches or comfort buildings. Millions of indentured labores worked as coolie slaves in many colonies. Also a non violent leader like Gandhi was not there in any other British colony in the world.
Soon after India gaining freedom, a violent guerrilla campaign started in Malaya peninsula. Thousands were killed, but an effective political and military response prevented a Communist take-over. Malaysia became independent in 1957. In the Middle East, Britain hurriedly abandoned Palestine in 1948. Ghana became Britain's first African colony to reach independence in 1957. By 1967 more than 20 British territories were independent. The Chinese took back Hong Kong in 1997.
June 6th 2019 marks the start of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings and the Battle of Normandy, the largest amphibious assault in history with almost 7,000 ships and aircrafts. The British queen and 16 other heads of state have gathered in the British city of Portsmouth to commemorate the event.
But the battle of Imphal/Kohima that happened in India are totally ignored by our history text books. Britain's struggle to repel a combined force of Netaji and Japan around Imphal and Kohima in 1944 has been adjudged as the greatest ever battle involving British forces, in a contest run by the National Army Museum
No comments:
Post a Comment