Pramod Kapoor - 1946 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny: Last War of Independence

In February 1946, sailors or ratings of the Royal Indian Navy mutinied. They were inspired by the heroism of the Azad Hind Fauj. But their anger was sparked by terrible service conditions, racism, and broken recruitment promises. In less than 48 hours, 20,000 men took over 78 ships and 21 shore establishments, and replaced British flags with the entwined flags of the Congress, the Muslim League, and the communists.

The British panicked and announced a Cabinet Mission to discuss modalities of transfer of power. Indian troops refused to fire on the ratings, and the mutiny sparked revolts in other branches of the armed forces. People who thronged the streets in support were incessantly fired upon resulting in over 400 deaths and 1,500 injured.

To quell the rebellion, British commanded powerful warship HMS Glasgow to sail rapidly and ordered low sorties by the RAF fighter planes. In retaliation, the ratings trained the guns mounted on the captured ships towards the shore, threatening to blow Gateway of India, Yacht Club, and the dockyards.

As violence escalated, angry telegrams flew between the British PM and Viceroys office. While the communists flamed the ratings, the Congress and the League pushed them to surrender, promising they would not be victimized. Shamefully, even after Independence the governments of India and Pakistan refused to honour those promises.

The mutiny caused public disagreements between Gandhiji and Aruna Asaf Ali, and between Sardar Patel and Nehru. As last war of independence it hastened the transfer of power.Yet, this seminal event, which inspired songs, art and theatre has been edited out of the popular narratives of the Freedom Movement.

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Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography

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FORTHCOMING TI

DEDICATED TO

Bhai Sahab, Bhabhiji and Nimmo Bhabhi

Who we lost within a day of each other during

the second COVID wave

Their fond memories remain entwined with

the writing of the book

INPRAISE OF

1946 LAST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE:

ROYAL INDIAN NAVY MUTINY

The Naval Mutiny of 1946 was the last serious rebellion against the Raj in British India, but it did not receive as much scholarly analysis and critical scrutiny as it deserved. Like Pramod Kapoor, I still remember seeing Utpal Dutts play Kallol, a brilliant but stridently ideological what at the time looked blatantly partisan interpretation of the event in the 1960s. Yet, the play did convince me that this was one spontaneous rebellion waiting to be liberated from those who would like it to remain a marginal or forgotten episode in our freedom struggle. We should be beholden to Pramod Kapoor for telling the story from the perspective of the humble ratings who fought their battle, abandoned by some of our best-known freedom fighters who, like hard-boiled politicians ready to take on the responsibility of ruling India, were unwilling to stall the transfer of power. This book is a challenge to us to take a second look at our revered political figures whose charismatic public presence often hid their insecure ruthlessness and narcissism, both leavened with a touch of hypocrisy.

DR ASHIS NANDY

The Naval Mutiny of 1946 which spread like wildfire from Bombay to various other naval bases in India on the eve of Indias Independence, was an unprecedented and extraordinary uprising against the British colonial power much like the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.

Soon the mutineers allied themselves with the Freedom Movement that was fighting to free India from the shackles of colonial rule.

Among the leaders of the Naval Mutiny was a young Balai Dutt barely out of his teens. Later in his career, he served as an advertising executive in Lintas. I got acquainted with him when I joined the agency as a copywriter. It was then that I read his account of the Naval Mutiny which was later published under the title Mutiny of the Innocents.

Pramod Kapoors book is a comprehensive account of the Naval Mutiny. Thoroughly researched, it is an exciting account of what is commonly seen as a footnote in the history of the Freedom Movement. It may have been a footnote, but it certainly was the last straw that broke the colonial camels back.

SHYA M BENEGAL

Pramod Kapoor has transformed a footnote into a book. This book is a major achievement based on incredible research. A mustread for anyone interested in the history of twentieth-century India and how common people made that history.

RUDR ANGSHU MUKHERJEE

Could 1946 have turned into a rerun of the Great Uprising of 1857? Pramod Kapoors remarkable research has shed important new light on a thrilling and critically important but partly forgotten story, and does so with great flair and panache.

WILLIAM DALRYMPLE

Pramod set out to unearth a forgotten and ignored chapter in our nationalist history and what an excellent job he has done. Meticulous research and fact-checking and digging out facts that are hidden and long forgotten. Our historians just brushed it aside Pramod has once again brought it to the attention of the public, especially younger Indians. This is a document that fills a vital gap in our history.