Moreover, one must look at the aggregate of Churchill’s comments and actions surrounding India. In July 1944, for example, Churchill told Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar over lunch, “I want to see a great shining India, of which we can be as proud as we are of a great Canada or a great Australia.” The third quote often used against Churchill is when he said that Indians bred “like rabbits” in a famine meeting. Generally omitted is that upon calming down, Churchill asked what could be done to help Indians. This doesn’t negate the comment’s racism, but it’s clear that Churchill was overwhelmed.

The Post-War World

In 1945, the Labour Party won the general election. Clement Attlee became Prime Minister and presided over Indian Independence. Churchill viewed the Attlee administration’s exit from India as “violently factional.” He told the House of Commons in 1946, as Leader of the Opposition, that Britain had a duty to ensure an “agreement between the Indian races, religions, parties and forces” was made. Instead, it seemed that the British Government was operating under the guise of a “ruthless logic to quit India regardless of what may happen there.” Recounting the events of partition in his 1951 election address, Churchill called it a “vast human tragedy which occurred in the process of handling over, is a fact for which I thank God I had no responsibility.”

That year, Churchill returned to the premiership. Nuclear containment dominated his time in international affairs, as Britain detonated its first nuclear bomb in 1952. Nonetheless, he kept an interest in matters in the Indian subcontinent.

In February 1955, Churchill sorrowfully informed the Queen on behalf of the Commonwealth that Pakistan was becoming a republic. He, alongside the PMs of Australia and New Zealand, failed in suggesting a system where the Pakistani Governor-General was elected rather than appointed by the Crown, an attempt to convince the Pakistani government to retain the Crown.

Later that month, the British cabinet met to discuss the exponential emigration of Indians to different parts of the Empire, as reports showed increased racial tensions. Churchill’s response was that though the matter should be observed, no drastic action should be taken “which might give offence to the Indian Government,” and it was wrong for the government to negatively generalize all Indians.

Ultimately, Winston Churchill’s relationship with India was a complex one. His belief in racial hierarchies was a product of his time and widely considered a scientific fact. Whereas many of his contemporaries saw genocide and slavery as the acceptable answer to such a world, Churchill instead favored widespread education, healthcare, and good governance. To paint Churchill as a genocidal villain like that of Hitler for these reasons is wholly inappropriate and false.

Andreas Koureas is an aspiring economist and historian. He is currently studying Political Economy at King’s College London. His main research focus is on Winston Churchill and the British Empire. He has written for publications such as The Spectator and academic institutions like Hillsdale College. He is writing a paper on the 1943 Bengal Famine for a peer-reviewed journal later this year. Follow him on X: @AndreasKoureas_.

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