While the Second World War was raging in Europe, another enormous humanitarian crisis was unfolding in India. The Bengal famine of 1943 took the lives of an estimated 2.1 million people, though the exact number is murky. Even more nebulous is the cause of the famine. The complexity of the tragedy have contributed to many theories ranging from poor bookkeeping, to state-level corruption, to an outbreak of brown spot disease amongst rice crops, to a lack of cooperation between various grain markets, and so on. A large question that has persisted to date is how much blame should fall on the British - as they were in charge of India at the time of the famine. Large quantities of food were being used to feed British troops fighting the war, and it is clear there was much disregard for the Indian people's well-being in London's Parliament. Winston Churchill is even quoted as saying ''I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine is their own fault for breeding like rabbits.'' As incriminating as this quote would be, it's never this black and white. Churchill is quoted as saying the first part through the memoirs of a contemporary, Leo Amery. As for the second part, it was also recorded by Amery, however as a rough paraphrase before asking for advice on how to deal with the famine, showing that Churchill was at least somewhat concerned for Indians. Amery himself was for Indian independence, spoke fluent Hindi, and lamented that ''Churchill knew as much of the Indian problem as George III knew of the American colonies''. In sum, where, when, and to what degree the disconnect between the British and the Indians lead to the tragedies in Bengal remains elusive, however seeking to prove that the players involved were entirely guilty or innocent is most likely narrow-sighted. Nonetheless, for now Churchill is akin to Hitler in the eyes of Indians.
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