Man-Made Famines – Marie Louise Berneri (1943)

_{Lilian Wolfe selling War Commentary in 1945, with Marie Louise Berneri}

From ‘War Commentary: For Anarchism’, Vol. 5, No. 2., Mid-November, 1943

The horrors of war, of destruction and carnage, have been surpassed by those of famine, by millions of skeletons swept by diseases and epidemics. Famines which were caused by floods and droughts pass unnoticed to-day but the world is shaken by famines of a magnitude hitherto unknown, caused by Governments for political reasons.

Our generation has witnessed famines both in Asia and in Europe which present all the characteristics of man-made famines; they are particularly revolting to man’s conscience because all of them could have been avoided if the masses had not been at the mercy of their Governments. Eugene Lyons who witnessed the Russian famine of 1932-33 points out that its singularly macabre quality was due to the fact that the destruction and suffering which seemed a natural calamity was in fact man-made, artificially whipped up and that a word of command from Stalin could have stopped it : “It was as if, in the midst of a terrible volcanic eruption, one were to catch sight of someone turning a crank that kept the hot lava pouring over men and towns”.

We have had, a few days ago, the privilege of catching a glimpse of the men who hold in their hands the fate of the Indian people. In the House of Commons thirty-five people were present at the debate on the famine in India. It was lunch time and M.P.’s [Members of Parliament] don’t like waiting for seats in the restaurant. Amery, secretary for India, arrived late (he had been securing tickets for his wife in the gallery). Pethick Lawrence delivered the speech he had prepared in answer to the not-yet delivered speech by Amery. He reminded the House that they were all M.P.’s for India, a rather tactless point to make in the circumstances.

The people who “turn the crank” are chatting and gossiping in restaurants and clubs, Lord Linlithgow arriving from India has nothing to say on the situation there and goes to Buckingham Palace to receive the Knighthood of the Garter, Amery has to be given police protection on his way to the House and jokes are made about his small size but his ability as a pugilist. In Moscow, Stalin entertains American and English statesmen, the dinner begins at 8.30 p.m. and ends at 2.30 the following morning. According to a witness “The courses seemed endless, there were more than twenty toasts”.

If politicians are not concerned, business men are even less so. If one only read The Chamber of Commerce Journal one would think that India is the most prosperous country in the world. Each issue informs the readers that new “progress” is being made. Says the October number:

“The war has given a great impetus to many Indian industries. New ones have been started and old industries have been put on a more stable basis. An up-to-date fruit canning factory, which will be able to produce 300 tons of canned fruits this year, has started work somewhere in Northern India. The new factory is for the time being concentrating on plums, peaches, pears and apricots — fruits which are available in large quantities in its vicinity.”

The fruit is preserved in a syrup or sugar solution and can be kept “a considerable time”. The review ends cheerfully: “With a plentiful supply of good fruits and sugar in the country it is reasonable to expect that the fruit canning industry will have a great future in India”.

The November issue of The Chamber of Commerce Journal announces that: “The Commerce Department of the Government of India is evidently out to tell the world about the great post-war and present possibilities for development in India. The Government of India are publishing a series of pamphlets, brightly written, very informative and illustrated, about different aspects of Indian industries” . Pamphlet No. 3 deals with the jute industry which is partly responsible for the famine, the cultivation of rice having had to be abandoned for that of jute, causing starvation in wide areas. That it was “worthwhile” is proved by the fact that “the exports of raw and manufactured jute constitute about one quarter of the total value of the Indian merchandise exported. In thousands of rupees the exports of jute in 1940 doubled by comparison with the previous year.”

The Press has not been able to ignore the Indian famine and every day newspapers carry figures about the number of deaths due to starvation or cholera. But we can be sure that famine is far more serious than we can gather from journalists’ reports. The Russian famine which took place after the forced collectivization of the land and which cost the Russian people from three to seven million lives, passed almost unnoticed at the time. It started in November 1932 and it was not till the 30th of March 1933 that the New York Times mentioned “widespread malnutrition”.

As in the case of India the publication of statistics was stopped and it was impossible to calculate the increase in death rate with any certainty. Journalists could abandon themselves freely to a little trick which consisted in calculating the deaths (due to executions for example) in one town and cabling them to their newspaper giving the impression that they were the figures for the whole of Russia. Reuter’s correspondent also sends precise information as to the number of deaths in the streets of Calcutta or in such and such hospital but neglects to talk about the corpses lining the railway trucks and accumulating around stations.

Correspondents are allowed to mention the hundreds of deaths in the cities as a screen for the hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of deaths which take place all over the country. The Government responsible for the famine has also the means of suppressing the news which by their intense horror might awaken the conscience of mankind.

As in the Russian famine scapegoats are found by the Government to cover itself. Stalin and his henchmen blamed the kulaks, on the one hand, and the bureaucracy on the other, expelling from the Party well-known Party members like Kamenev, and shooting high officials. Even the Church was made responsible. Bells were taken down, shrines were destroyed, priests and rabbis were rounded up and imprisoned. In the case of India everybody is blamed in turn, black-marketeers, hoarders, the local governments, Japanese agents and fifth-columnists. A few people attacked the Viceroy and the Daily Worker goes as far as asking Amery’s resignation. But Churchill, the Cabinet, the whole Government are not held responsible. The people responsible remain in high places and the privileged class they represent does not suffer. This is a characteristic of all modern famines. The rich people, the ruling class don’t starve and even go on enjoying a luxurious life. We see now in Russia the Communist leaders giving sumptuous receptions, in India while people die in the streets restaurant’s menus have eighteen courses on them, in Spain smart restaurants offer their customers whole chickens after the soup, hors-d’oeuvres, fish, etc.

How do people react to so much suffering and injustice? They do not rebel as one would expect. While food shortage has always caused riots and revolts, mass starvation seems to have the effect of annihilating people’s will and strength to rebel. Riots do take place but not in proportion to those caused by occasional and short-lived food shortages. The Government obviously relies on this demoralization of the masses or it would never dare to provoke such catastrophies.

The first reaction of starving people is to emigrate from the countryside to the cities. Russia and India have seen vast movements of populations constantly in search of food. The second reaction is the abandonment of any kind of work, Indian peasants from the Jute areas for example refuse to go back. The Russian peasants fought against the main cause of the famine: the forced collectivization of the land by widespread sabotage. They slaughtered their cattle, horses and pigs on such a large scale that Stalin was forced to modify his plans for 100 per cent collectivization and make important concessions to the peasants. Faced with the menace of complete disruption of the economy of the country the Government had to give in.

The British Government is prepared to let hundreds of thousands and even perhaps, a few millions of Indians die of hunger. An over populated country like India can survive such an ordeal. But if the Government was threatened with a complete breakdown of the life of the country, agriculture, industry and transport it would try to appease the anger of the people. If peasants producing industrial crops, workers in the leather, paper, glass, lacquer and dye industries as well as in the mines and transport went on strike or used means of destruction similar to those of the Russian peasants one can be sure that the Government would find the necessary ships to bring food to India. Newspapers announce that India must be provided with 1,500,000 tons of wheat and rye to allow her to regain control of the position. They add that: “It will be for the British Government, in conjunction with the other United Nations, to decide if they can be released.” The only way the Indian masses have to force the Government to release that food is by threatening them to destroy those industries which are such a profitable source of investment to the readers of The Chamber of Commerce Journal and who are of no use whatsoever to the Indians who can’t afford boots, lacquered objects or canned peaches.

Other practical means of fighting against man-made famines not only in India but in all countries in which they occur would be: to picket restaurants which though probably using a small proportion of the total food consumption are an insult to the starving masses. To expropriate stocks of food either in the hands of hoarders or the Government and to set up Workers’ and Peasants’ Committees to ensure a fair distribution amongst the population. Looting of shops always takes place in periods of scarcity but it only benefits a minority of audacious men or women. The expropriation should be carried out on a large scale, not for the benefit of a few but of the whole community. Charity as organised by Lord Linlithgow, General Wavell and even the Cadbury Quakers is an insult. The masses don’t want crumbs from the loaded tables of the rich, but what is their natural right. They should take it whenever they have an opportunity. Indian dockers and seamen should refuse to export food which even in times of famine continues to be exported (India, Ireland, Russia, Spain) as exports mean profits and capitalists are never willing to relinquish those.

What we must realise in Britain is that the Indian famine is not a matter for the Indians alone to solve. This is the time to demonstrate our solidarity to the Indian workers by all the means at our disposal. We must remember also that if it is their turn to starve to-day it may be ours to-morrow; the sooner we devise means to fight against famine the better.

M.L.B.