[lbo-talk] politics of food

James Heartfield Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk
Sun Nov 15 08:50:42 PST 2009


"the British Empire did starve at least 2 million Bengalis to death in 1943. No, it wasn't intentional,"

Depends what you mean by intentional. The British refused to allow the food out of the stores to feed the starving villages because they feared that these same villages would fall into Japanese hands. Withholding the surplus was a 'scorched earth' policy. They intended to withhold the food, not because they were dead set on killing off the Bengalis, but because they valued their lives less than they feared losing ground to the Japanese.



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list