Monday 8 August 2011

Shababa's Report and my Inputs

Dear Sir,

On searching for articles related to the Irish and Indian famines, I came across a review on the book "Three Famines", by Thomas Keneally. Keneally is said to have blamed politicians of that time for the terrible fate of the people suffereing from the famine. He critisizes Sir Winston Churchill for being a racist when it comes to Indians. A sense of abbhorence is developed towards Churchill as Keneally points out his inhuman comments on the Bengal population, despite them being an important part of the British troops. Yet another important theme that is held up by the writer is, that nothing had been learnt from history, that is, the Irish famine, where the same factors had led to the sufferings of many. 

Another article that came up from the search is "Entitlement, Shortage and the 1943 Bengali Famine: Another look" by Mark B. Tauger.The article discusses Amartya Sen's approach to famines and their causes. The writer begins by outlining two different apporaoches to famine- one being the actual shortage of food due to natural disasters or failure of crop prodeuction, the other being the availability of the produced food to people. The writer obviously supports the latter. "Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there not being enough food to eat. While the latter can be a cuse of the former, it is but one of many possible causes. Whether and how starvation relates to food supply is a matter for factual investigation."This argument by Amartya Sen is well reasoned and it is extremely difficult to oppose it in any way, clearly validating Sen's perspective of the causes of a famine being a flaw in the structure or political actions in a country. 

Both the above articles provide a new point of view to famines, contrary to the common reaction to a famine which is- "Oh, there must be a shortage of food." They broaden our perspectives, stimulating us to think in a different way, to understand better not only the issue at hand, but also other situations. 

Shababa.

Dear Students,


Please check a few words about a book by Madhusree Mukerjee - Churchill's Secret War. The publication of ths book was angrily refuted by the the official Churchill Museum Authority - only proving that opinions can generate dangerous foes. The article by Pulitzer finalist Arthur Herman (the second link below) is probably one of the lousiest I have read in my recent memory. Will some find the fallacies in his own thoughts? 

Follow the links - 


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