The Forgotten Mutiny

[Marxist]

When one talks about a Mutiny in India one is immediately reminded of the Revolt of 1857 or as it is now called “The First War of Indian Independence”. However another mutiny that took place just before our independence is largely ignored.

This was the Naval Mutiny that started on February 18, 1946 in Bombay.

Like most revolts the Naval Mutiny too had a rather innocuous beginning. About a thousand ratings of HMIS TALWAR, the signal Training ship of the Royal Indian Navy in Bombay went on a hartal and a hunger strike. The incident which precipitated this unusual action was the alleged insult to an Indian rating by a British officer when the rating drew the officer’s attention to some of the problems they were facing.

This hartal was ignored by the Britishers and before they knew it they had a full fledged mutiny on their hands. Moreover unlike earlier this was a mutiny that received unprecedented public support.
That the British chose to ignore this hartal by a 1000 naval ratings was a bit surprising because just twelve days earlier 600 members, including officers of the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) camp situated close by on Marine Drive went on a hunger strike as a protest against an insult by the Camp Commander. This hunger strike was supported by the RIAF men at Delhi, Lahore and Karachi forcing the British to take remedial measures.

The strike by the Naval ratings soon took serious proportions. Hundreds of strikers from the sloops, minesweepers and shore establishments in Bombay demonstrated for 2 hours along Hornby Road near VT (now the very busy D.N. Road near CST). British personnel of the Defence forces were singled out for attacks by the strikers who were armed only with hammers, crowbars and hockey sticks. The Union Jack was lowered from the ships and Congress and Muslim League flags were hoisted.

A reign of terror prevailed in Flora Fountain for an hour. Vehicles carrying mail were stopped and the mail burnt. British men and women going in cars and victorias were made to get down and shout “Jai Hind”. Guns were trained on the Taj Mahal hotel, the Yacht Club and other buildings from morning till evening.

Absolute chaos prevailed for the next few days. 2000 men of HMIS AKBAR joined the strike. There was firing on the naval ratings in Castle Barracks. 1000 RIAF men from the Marine Drive and Andheri Camps also joined in sympathy.

The strike soon spread to other parts of India. The ratings in Calcutta, Madras, Karachi and Vizag also went on strike shouting slogans “Strike for Bombay” “Release 11,000 INA prisoners” and “Jai Hind”.

Four days later, on the 22nd February, there was complete break down of law and order in Bombay. There was unprecedented arson and looting.

The most significant factor was that Hindus and Muslims combined to fight the British. And remember this was just before independence at the height of the movement for Pakistan. Even the burhka-clad women of Bhendi Bazaar, which was the worst affected area, joined in the agitation throwing pots and pans, from the roof tops, at the British soldiers who were called out to patrol the streets.

Shockingly this Mutiny in the armed forces got no support from the national leaders and like all mutinies before it was largely leaderless. Mahatma Gandhi, in fact, condemned the riots and the ratings’ mutiny. He said, “A combination between Hindus and Muslims for the purpose of violent actions is unholy and will lead to and would probably be a precursor to mutual violence – bad for India and the world.” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was in Bombay, appealed to the agitators to give up violence and agreed to intervene only if they did so.

The British Government on the other hand clearly saw the writing on the wall. They realised that if the men of the Defence forces could not be relied upon then their hold on India would be very shaky. Also a hostile Navy would mean that the links with Britain would be severed.

On the 19th February, a day after the naval mutiny broke out, the British Government announced that a Cabinet Mission would come to India to work out details of Independence of the country from foreign rule.

 

[Icarus]

When one talks about a Mutiny in India one is immediately reminded of the Revolt of 1857 or as it is now called “The First War of Indian Independence”. However another mutiny that took place just before our independence is largely ignored.

This was the Naval Mutiny that started on February 18, 1946 in Bombay.

Like most revolts the Naval Mutiny too had a rather innocuous beginning. About a thousand ratings of HMIS TALWAR, the signal Training ship of the Royal Indian Navy in Bombay went on a hartal and a hunger strike. The incident which precipitated this unusual action was the alleged insult to an Indian rating by a British officer when the rating drew the officer’s attention to some of the problems they were facing.

This hartal was ignored by the Britishers and before they knew it they had a full fledged mutiny on their hands. Moreover unlike earlier this was a mutiny that received unprecedented public support.
That the British chose to ignore this hartal by a 1000 naval ratings was a bit surprising because just twelve days earlier 600 members, including officers of the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) camp situated close by on Marine Drive went on a hunger strike as a protest against an insult by the Camp Commander. This hunger strike was supported by the RIAF men at Delhi, Lahore and Karachi forcing the British to take remedial measures.

The strike by the Naval ratings soon took serious proportions. Hundreds of strikers from the sloops, minesweepers and shore establishments in Bombay demonstrated for 2 hours along Hornby Road near VT (now the very busy D.N. Road near CST). British personnel of the Defence forces were singled out for attacks by the strikers who were armed only with hammers, crowbars and hockey sticks. The Union Jack was lowered from the ships and Congress and Muslim League flags were hoisted.

A reign of terror prevailed in Flora Fountain for an hour. Vehicles carrying mail were stopped and the mail burnt. British men and women going in cars and victorias were made to get down and shout “Jai Hind”. Guns were trained on the Taj Mahal hotel, the Yacht Club and other buildings from morning till evening.

Absolute chaos prevailed for the next few days. 2000 men of HMIS AKBAR joined the strike. There was firing on the naval ratings in Castle Barracks. 1000 RIAF men from the Marine Drive and Andheri Camps also joined in sympathy.

The strike soon spread to other parts of India. The ratings in Calcutta, Madras, Karachi and Vizag also went on strike shouting slogans “Strike for Bombay” “Release 11,000 INA prisoners” and “Jai Hind”.

Four days later, on the 22nd February, there was complete break down of law and order in Bombay. There was unprecedented arson and looting.

The most significant factor was that Hindus and Muslims combined to fight the British. And remember this was just before independence at the height of the movement for Pakistan. Even the burhka-clad women of Bhendi Bazaar, which was the worst affected area, joined in the agitation throwing pots and pans, from the roof tops, at the British soldiers who were called out to patrol the streets.

Shockingly this Mutiny in the armed forces got no support from the national leaders and like all mutinies before it was largely leaderless. Mahatma Gandhi, in fact, condemned the riots and the ratings’ mutiny. He said, “A combination between Hindus and Muslims for the purpose of violent actions is unholy and will lead to and would probably be a precursor to mutual violence – bad for India and the world.” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was in Bombay, appealed to the agitators to give up violence and agreed to intervene only if they did so.

The British Government on the other hand clearly saw the writing on the wall. They realised that if the men of the Defence forces could not be relied upon then their hold on India would be very shaky. Also a hostile Navy would mean that the links with Britain would be severed.

On the 19th February, a day after the naval mutiny broke out, the British Government announced that a Cabinet Mission would come to India to work out details of Independence of the country from foreign rule.

Very useful info, I for one had no Idea of such an occurrence.........

 

[RobbieS]

This incident is mentioned in Indian history textbooks, albeit as a passing reference. I remember reading about it in class X.

 

[Marxist]

bro these soldiers hoisted the flags of congress Muslim league and communist party of India.it was a joint fight by Hindus and Muslims,which British doesn't want. the mutiny spread from Karachi, Cochin,Chennai.Vizag,Calcutta.

 

[notsuperstitious]

Yes this is mentioned in our textbooks. And there is a memorial in mumbai

 

[notsuperstitious]

A picture from the mutiny in mumbai

 

[PlanetWarrior]

At the end of the 2nd world war , 1945 , the Brits gave a clear indication that India would be granted independence. So what exactly was the purpose of the mutiny in 1946 ?

 

[Marxist]

Although Britain had made, at the time of the Cripps' mission in 1942, a commitment o India after the war; these events and views held in 1946 by the administrations of the Raj would suggest to the reader that, contrary to the usual narrative of India's independence struggle, (which generally focuses on Congress and Mahatma Gandhi), the INA and the revolts, mutinies, and public resentment it germinated were an important factor in the complete withdrawal of the Raj from India.

 

[Jackdaws]

I've been to the memorial - next to Cooperage in Colaba. It is indeed a great part of our history. And in the INA trials which followed - 3 men were tried at the Red Fort - Sahgal - a Hindu, Dhillon - a Sikh and Shah Nawaz - a Muslim. They were jointly defended by Nehru and Jinnah. Additionally, Shah Nawaz happens to be the grand father of someone we all know as a certain Mr. Shahrukh Khan. So much for doubting the man's patriotism by the daft Sainiks.

 

[GUNNER]

A forgotten mutiny by the navy

Cdr (R) Najeeb Anjum

This writer is principal of Sir Adamjee Institute in Karachi.

I have read with interest the article, “The dominant role of the military“, (October 6) by the respected Dr Mubashir Hasan. I feel the writer has jumped to conclusions after mentioning the Jallianwala Bagh incident. He has completely ignored the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) mutiny of 1946 which shook the foundations of the British Raj and forced the British government to hasten the process of independence. This mutiny was led by the sailors of the communication branch resulting in a complete paralysis of the RIN.


If it were not for the Indians, the grandeur of the British would not have survived the onslaught of the Japanese in South East Asia. It was public knowledge that the Indian National Army (INA), the Bengal famine and, above all, the war made independence inevitable. Indian soldiers, sailors and airmen, Indian business and labour played a major role in the British victory on the Burma front, which gave birth to a new militant nationalism. Hindu-Muslim unity protests against the trial of prisoners of the INA and the heroic strike of the RIN in February 1946 were marked by massive solidarity actions in Calcutta, Bombay and Karachi.


The RIN mutiny shook the Raj to its very core and it was no coincidence that then British Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced on February 19, 1946 the decision to send a cabinet mission to India.

This event, I would argue, was perhaps the single-most important factor in hastening the process of independence in that it signalled the culmination of the erosion of imperial authority.


However, neither the Muslim League nor the Congress sympathised with the ranks of the RIN for fear of Communist Party involvement. S K Patil and I I Chundrigar, presidents of the Congress and the Muslim League of Bombay respectively, displayed rare unanimity and offered their help to the police in arresting the mutineers.

Gandhi thought that the mutiny had set what he called a “bad and unbecoming example” for India. He said that a “combination of Hindus and Muslims and others for the purpose of violent action” was unholy and that if the RIN men were to adopt peaceful methods and apprise him fully of their grievances he would see to it that they were “redressed”.

Aruna Asif Ali disagreed with Gandhi and said in a rejoinder that it would be “far easier to unite Hindus and Muslims at the barricade than on the constitutional front”.


The British would have tried to cling to power even after the Royal Indian Navy revolt but, from the day of the uprising, independence was assured. For the British, the events in Bombay and Karachi revived memories of the 1857 mutiny. On February 23, leading seaman M S Khan, president of the Naval Central Strike Committee, announced: “Our strike has been a historic event in the life of our nation. For the first time the blood of the men in the services and the people flowed together in a common cause. We will never forget this. Jai Hind!”


After independence many RIN Muslim mutineers came to Pakistan in search of a new identity but their hopes were shattered as they were considered unsuitable for re-employment in the rechristened Royal Pakistan Navy. The fate of their counterparts in India was no different. Nonetheless, in 1973, the government of India accorded official recognition to those who had served in the Royal Indian Navy and had participated in the mutiny by granting them pension bestowed on freedom fighters. There is a curious silence and elusiveness on this glorious episode in history books in Pakistan. One can only wonder why and for how long these navy personnel will be ignored and their sacrifices forgotten.



Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2010.


Royal Indian Navy Mutiny - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Jackdaws]

If we had achieved our independence through blood like the RIN and INA guys wanted, we would have valued our independence a lot more. I have nothing but the greatest respect for Gandhi - but I do feel that Indians' concept of freedom and democracy is not what it should be. People think toeing the government line is patriotism. Questioning government line is sedition. This is a legacy of British rule and its continuing filtering down in Indian society.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Although Britain had made, at the time of the Cripps' mission in 1942, a commitment o India after the war; these events and views held in 1946 by the administrations of the Raj would suggest to the reader that, contrary to the usual narrative of India's independence struggle, (which generally focuses on Congress and Mahatma Gandhi), the INA and the revolts, mutinies, and public resentment it germinated were an important factor in the complete withdrawal of the Raj from India.

You are quite correct in that assessment. Having spoken with some of the people of that time, it is quite clear that the British were quite badly shaken up by the RIN mutiny. While the mutiny was confined among the sailors of the RIN, two aspects stood out in the eyes of the British; one was that the participants were sailors who in general were much more educated than the average recruit in to the British Indian Army. Secondly, the ring-leaders were from the Telegraphists Branch, who again were more educated than the average rating. And the Telegraphists used their trade to effectively spread their message (like a wild fire). Then there was another factor that did not escape the British; while the Indian Officers did not participate, many among them were in fact sympathetic to the cause. This sympathy could have later manifested itself later with far more devastating effect.

The mutiny itself was not born only out of a political cause, there were some social and economic causes also. The war was over, the forces were being rapidly down-sized, sailors and soldiers were being demobilised. Though there was a program to re-train men for civilian life, it was so symbolic so as to be meaningless. Coupled with the fact that most of the British Officers actually running the show (De-mob program) were Reservists, not careerists and they just could not connect with the men under them- the men had no respect for them. At the same time the sailors faced a bleak future. They were on the verge of desperation. The fate of the RINR and RINVR officers was slightly better, because they could at least go back to "civvy street" as "box-wallahs".

To sum it up, the British understood that one of the strongest pillars of their system was vulnerable. That fact did have an impact on the later events.

P.s. One of the dramatis personae in the Mutiny; Leading Telegraphist B.C. Dutt later wrote a book about it "Mutiny of the Innocents", which is a good first person account.