Radio Broadcasting in Colonial India

This chapter discusses the preparations for World War II in relation to advances in radio broadcasting to the Indian public. Responsibility for radio broadcasting in British India became part of the portfolio of the Labour Bureau and thus one of the state’s apparatus surrounding the maintenance of colonial power. The arrangement in India was different from that of radio broadcasting in the UK during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s where the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had been created under Royal Charter with editorial independence from government and commercial interests. In contrast, the British Government of India, and several of Britain’s other colonial territories set up public communications departments that were attached to central government bureaus primarily because the notion of public service broadcasting sat awkwardly against colonial power structures.

Perspectives

This smaller but well-formed chapter concludes the book by discussing Clow’s contribution to discussions about the future of India. In an advisory capacity, Clow articulated his visions for India, particularly the future of Assam and the frontier territories, through a series of essays, none of which have been published before. Some, but not all, of these recommendations were taken forward with the British plans with the consequences of those decisions still being felt today in the form of non-state political violence.

Sir Andrew Gourlay Clow

This chapter seeks to position Clow’s experiences in colonial India against the backdrop of wider issues and trends during the period of his service. The chapter discusses Clow’s recruitment into the ICS, his marriage to Ariadne, and his life after the ICS. What is of interest here is not necessarily the events themselves but the temperament of the man and his attitude to the situations that were before him. Moreover, understanding the historical and social context of Clow’s career allows us to draw stronger conclusions when analysing the key events in the later chapters.

The Indian Civil Service and the Bengal Famine of 1943

The Bengal Famine of 1943 was the direct result of British Government policies in the years and months preceding it. The view most widely circulated by politicians and journalists during and immediately after the hunger and disease was that the loss of Burma to invading Japanese forces in the spring of 1942 had led to the cessation of rice shipments to Bengal. However, this chapter reveals that this narrative was a convenient rationale for the British as it deflected attention away from their responsibility and helped to demonize the Japanese enemy. Clow and his ICS colleagues were complicit and even leaders in this practice. Beyond this, the chapter engages with theories of famine and positions the events in Bengal within wider debates about this tragic phenomenon.

World War II in Assam and the North-Eastern Frontier

Japan was able to capture almost all of Burma by May 1942, after the Allied forces departed the capital, Rangoon, on 7th March in a ‘scorched earth’ retreat causing the first of several refugee crises into Assam. This chapter on Assam is split into several sections. The first covers the strategic importance of the Indian sub-continent to the Allied war effort, and, more specifically, Assam’s importance to the Empire. The chapter focuses on civilian activities and the civilian decision-making that occurred around these issues from the ICS and other organizations as well as discusses relations between the ICS and the military during the period. As such Clow’s contribution and actions as Governor of the province from May 1942 is understood within the perspective of the greater political and military aims of the time.

Introduction

The introductory chapter articulates the book’s central argument about colonialism, which it defines as rule by outsiders for the benefit of outsiders, a structure that results in the extreme suppression of a majority for the vast prosperity of a minority. However, the ICS officers who administered colonial rule in India were also vulnerable to the colonial experience because colonialism is a dehumanizing experience for all those engaged with its power structures. Beyond this, the chapter provides initial information around the life and career of Sir Andrew Clow, the book’s main character. Clow was involved in the crucial events before, during, and after World War II in British-ruled India that affected the outcome of the conflict as a whole but also helped set the platform for the subsequent collapse of the age of British imperialism.