Ola,
re:
Date: Thu, 7 May 2020 21:27:38 +0000 (UTC)
From: Gilbert Lawrence <gilbert2...@yahoo.com>
To: Goanet Org <goa...@goanet.org>
Subject: [Goanet] Coolies in British Navy
Given the stay-at-home order, I am reading "RAJ - the Making and
Unmaking of BRITISH INDIA" by Lawrence James.
According to this historian the term "Coolie" and others were
derogatorily used by British officers to ALL Indian navy men as a
generic insult.? Some of these officers were blatantly racists.
It was such behavior and attitudes of the officers that triggered the
Indian Naval Mutiny in Bombay and at other ports in 1945 after the war.?
Perhaps Goanetters who are familiar with these episodes at various ports
can write about it.? There appears to have been quite a loss of life.
The naval mutiny was one of a few significant events that convinced the
British that their time in India needs to come to an end fast.?
Otherwise as long as the British could depend on the military and
police,? it was always "self-government in due time" with more and more
high powered missions and other stalling tactics.
Regards, GL
Indian independence was already very much in the books as soon as
Clement Atlee was elected PM of Great Britain, since he didn't want,
like his predecessor Winston Churchill, to spend more British lives and
money on keeping India as a colony. This made in fact for a overhaste
transition the outcomes of which are well-known.
And for context/background of the Indian Naval Mutiny, one can always
start with this long Wikipedia entry (with pics and refs!):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Indian_Navy_mutiny
Have a nice day!
p+2D!
