Three million died in the 1943 Bengal famine - one man is collecting the remaining survivors’ tales.

  • roastedDeflator@kbin.socialOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    9 months ago

    This article doesn’t mention that -once more- this famine is due to british colonial biopolitics:

    The colonial strategies and utilitarian principles by the British authorities exacerbated the Bengal famine. Utilizing Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, I point out how the British viewed Indian bodies discursively. To reaffirm their sense of superiority, they reduced their Indian subjects to animal-like beings’ incapable of controlling their own reproduction.

    • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      14
      ·
      9 months ago

      Cool you should stir all that 80 year old shit up again, that’ll really help everyone

      In fact, why don’t we jail those responsible?!?

          • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            12
            ·
            8 months ago

            I don’t remember committing any atrocities, was I drunk at the time? There was that one evening in Newcastle mind you…

        • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          8 months ago

          I’m saying I’m not responsible. Neither is anyone who is still alive. I didn’t make those decisions, neither did anyone related to me

          • yesman@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            8 months ago

            You’re right. British People should forget the past. The Battle of Trafalgar, The Battle of Quebec, and Waterloo are none of your business if you weren’t alive at the time. All of those monuments should be burred with the last surviving witness.

            There are only a handful of Brits left who can even claim to have defeated the Nazis.

          • roastedDeflator@kbin.socialOP
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            8 months ago

            Thanks for the clarifications. Of course noone can be responsible for stuff that happened before their lifetime.

            Our responsibility lays on to how we address this colonial past. The way I see things, we need to face it and address it, not put it under the rug. It’s the least we can do and its important to do so for the millions of people around the world who were not alive then, but still have to live/survive the outcomes of colonial past policies. Racism would be one of them, the list is long.

            • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              8 months ago

              Yep, and a lot of racism is caused by people dragging up the past, and telling people that, for example “The Brits are to blame, you should hate them for what their ancestors did!”

              It’s fucking stupid and does nothing but fuel hate