He may be regarded as the one of the greatest heroes of world war two. People might have considered him as the greatest savior of mankind. He might have inspired the whole world by his extraordinary oratory skills and great wisdom. Or in simpler words, he might have saved the world from the anarchy of Nazism. However, as far as India is considered, the people are not very much fond of this wizard.
The reasons for Indian hatred about Winston Churchill have not came from usual anti British sentiments. Rather, it came from those harsh and insane comments made by Churchill during the course of India's struggle of Independence.
Churchill's direct confrontation with Indians happened for the first time when Mahatma Gandhi visited London. It was second round table conference and Britishers were frustrated by Gandhi's Civil Disobedience Movement.
Earlier, Gandhi had launched Dandi March, a salt law breaking movement which English viceroy Irvine failed to understand and consequently restrict it. Eventually, British government had to brought out a truce in which Gandhi won a moral victory.
So when Gandhi reached England, British government decided to have no soft policy with Gandhi and Congress. It was this time when Churchill called him 'a naked fakir". Obviously, this comment came out from frustration.
Did Churchill fail to understand India?
Churchill came to India in the year 1897. His Indian adventure was not a good one. He came as a military officer and lived in Bangalore. Like his British counterparts he did not visit any of fascinating historical places or hill-stations. Rather, he preferred to read history in one of those camp areas of British Military.
Bored by life at Bangalore camp, he used his mother's political weight and brought out a transfer of himself in North West Frontier Post. Here, British army had tough time dealing with tribal groups of NWPF. These tribes were cruel and equally hard to tackle. Churchill soon realized that he made a mistake. Probably this experience of Churchill forced him to comment later that the tribes of North West must be poisoned out to death.
From these two incidents, it becomes clear that Churchill spent very little time in India. Whatever time he spent, he did not use it judiciously to understand the culture and tradition. So probably by experience he gained in North West, he drawn a miscalculated inference that all the Indians are 'poor bootleggers'.
What made him comment that Indians can't run their country even for 20 years when freedom would be granted to them?
When world war 2 ended, frustrated by British war efforts, people voted out conservatives. Labor party came in power which always favored Indian freedom. So again frustrated by Labor Party's Indian adventure, he started making some illogical comments.
It was never the case that Indians failed to enact their own constitution. In fact, Motilal Nehru accepted the British challenge very early in 1927, and made a 'Nehru Report' which can be easily be equated with modern day constitutions. Even the present constitution is considered as one of the most ideal constitutions of the world.
Indians also successfully ran administration of Provinces in the year 1937 to 1939. Churchill must have seen this, but failed to acknowledge as his views were based on earlier prejudices. It is quite possible that he made those anti Indian comments because he wanted to raise his position in his own party.
A typical hatred about a particular community always gives you followers. Through these followers of particular band, one can easily establish his image. Churchill did exactly the same. This is evident from the fact that Indians to whom he once called 'bootleggers', have became a recognizable, self sufficient and probably the strongest and biggest constitutional power.
Read More
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The reasons for Indian hatred about Winston Churchill have not came from usual anti British sentiments. Rather, it came from those harsh and insane comments made by Churchill during the course of India's struggle of Independence.
Churchill's direct confrontation with Indians happened for the first time when Mahatma Gandhi visited London. It was second round table conference and Britishers were frustrated by Gandhi's Civil Disobedience Movement.
Earlier, Gandhi had launched Dandi March, a salt law breaking movement which English viceroy Irvine failed to understand and consequently restrict it. Eventually, British government had to brought out a truce in which Gandhi won a moral victory.
So when Gandhi reached England, British government decided to have no soft policy with Gandhi and Congress. It was this time when Churchill called him 'a naked fakir". Obviously, this comment came out from frustration.
Did Churchill fail to understand India?
Churchill came to India in the year 1897. His Indian adventure was not a good one. He came as a military officer and lived in Bangalore. Like his British counterparts he did not visit any of fascinating historical places or hill-stations. Rather, he preferred to read history in one of those camp areas of British Military.
Bored by life at Bangalore camp, he used his mother's political weight and brought out a transfer of himself in North West Frontier Post. Here, British army had tough time dealing with tribal groups of NWPF. These tribes were cruel and equally hard to tackle. Churchill soon realized that he made a mistake. Probably this experience of Churchill forced him to comment later that the tribes of North West must be poisoned out to death.
From these two incidents, it becomes clear that Churchill spent very little time in India. Whatever time he spent, he did not use it judiciously to understand the culture and tradition. So probably by experience he gained in North West, he drawn a miscalculated inference that all the Indians are 'poor bootleggers'.
What made him comment that Indians can't run their country even for 20 years when freedom would be granted to them?
When world war 2 ended, frustrated by British war efforts, people voted out conservatives. Labor party came in power which always favored Indian freedom. So again frustrated by Labor Party's Indian adventure, he started making some illogical comments.
It was never the case that Indians failed to enact their own constitution. In fact, Motilal Nehru accepted the British challenge very early in 1927, and made a 'Nehru Report' which can be easily be equated with modern day constitutions. Even the present constitution is considered as one of the most ideal constitutions of the world.
Indians also successfully ran administration of Provinces in the year 1937 to 1939. Churchill must have seen this, but failed to acknowledge as his views were based on earlier prejudices. It is quite possible that he made those anti Indian comments because he wanted to raise his position in his own party.
A typical hatred about a particular community always gives you followers. Through these followers of particular band, one can easily establish his image. Churchill did exactly the same. This is evident from the fact that Indians to whom he once called 'bootleggers', have became a recognizable, self sufficient and probably the strongest and biggest constitutional power.
Read More
What is the command and control to launch nuclear warhead in India
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