ED WAUGH introduces a special event to commemorate the centenary of the 1926 General Strike
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The reality of famine
As famine strikes in Gaza, JOHN GREEN welcomes a timely reissue of a communist pamphlet that is a model of excellent research, humanitarian commitment and a clear anti-imperialist perspective
Mother in shreds of clothing with child begging on the streets of Calcutta during the Bengal famine of 1943
[Bengal Speaks/Public domain]
PAUL DONOVAN recommends an energetic adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel, that emphasises how psychiatry is a tool in the hands of a racist agenda
IAN SINCLAIR draws our attention to a film, available for everyone to use, to stimulate community discussion and active engagement in the climate emergency
SIMON PARSONS recommends an outstanding revival of the musical based on Argentinian LGBT activist Manuel Puig’s groundbreaking novel
JAMES WALSH previews the smorgasbord of talent and hilarity on show at the Brighton Fringe
India’s Famine by Ben Bradley
First published in 1943, republished in 2024 by the CPB
Introductions from Shahriar Bin Ali of the Bangladeshi Workers Council and Vijay Prashad of Tricontinental
BECAUSE of its large population, its feudal landholding system and the ravages of British imperialism, India had been subject to regular food shortages and famines over many years.
However, the Bengal Famine, dealt with here, was one of the most iniquitous and devastating because it was avoidable and was hidden from the world by the British colonial administration.
Ben Bradley’s superb exposure of how the famine came about as a result of deliberate British policy and its government’s extreme callousness, is a model of excellent research, humanitarian commitment and a clear anti-imperialist perspective.
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