Winston Churchill may be the one among the world's strongest leaders; but for Indians, he is the reason for the devastating Bengal Famine of 1943. The most dreadful famine witnessed by the nation, the Bengal Famine resulted in the death of nearly 2.1–3 million people in modern-day West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Churchill statue defaced
On Sunday, 7 June, Churchill's statue in the London Parliament Square was defaced with Churchill crossed out with black marker pen and the words "is a racist" underneath. In addition to this, the protestors have also pinned on it a poster written 'Black Lives Matter.'
Churchill, the iconic British politician, army officer, and writer, served as the Prime Minister of Britain from 1940 to 1945, the most crucial periods in world history when he led the country to its glorious victory in the Second World War. Churchill later again came to the nation's central power from 1951 to 1955.
As the vandalism and the defacement of the statue have kindled a debate among the Twitterati; several people pointed out that historically, the defacement wasn't an incorrect activity.
Twitter against Churchill?
Most of the tweets shared in the social media points at the biased outlook the British leader had to India. "Churchill engineered the Bengal famine in India, 1943. "I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion." When Indians begged for food, Churchill said it was their fault for "breeding like rabbits". 4 million Indians starved to death," goes a tweet.
"Tommy Robinson fans with swastika tattoos are upset that someone sprayed "Winston Churchill was a racist" on a plinth. You couldn't make it up," wrote Frank Owne's Legendary Paintbrush.
"Me: Some people are upset because I said Churchill was racist. Sarah: But he WAS racist. I married wisely," wrote another.
Interestingly, even Google has reported a sudden rise in people searching Winston Churchill across India to see a result of the 'Bengal famine.'
