20200809_IRISH_09_48



Original Podcast with clickable words

http://tinyurl.com/y3cpufz9

The Bengal Famine of 1943 Starvation and disease killed millions in British India during the Second World War.

Gorta Bengal 1943 Mharaigh ocras agus galar na milliúin in India na Breataine le linn an Dara Cogadh Domhanda.

Why?

Cén fáth?

On an October morning in 1943, a scientist employed by the government of Bengal was travelling by boat along the Brahmaputra river from Bahadurabad to take up his new job in Dhaka (now capital of Bangladesh).

Ar maidin Dheireadh Fómhair i 1943, bhí eolaí a bhí fostaithe ag rialtas Bengal ag taisteal ar bhád feadh abhainn Brahmaputra ó Bahadurabad chun dul i mbun a phoist nua i Dhaka (príomhchathair na Banglaidéise anois).

All along the 120-mile journey, he saw bodies of dead and dying men, women and children on both banks.

Ar feadh an turais 120 míle, chonaic sé corp fir, mná agus leanaí marbh agus ag fáil bháis ar an dá bhruach.

There was a war on and the Japanese were only a few hundred miles to the east.

Bhí cogadh ann agus ní raibh na Seapánaigh ach cúpla céad míle soir.

But these people did not die in the war.

Ach ní bhfuair na daoine seo bás sa chogadh.

They were victims of a famine that had begun in the summer of 1943 and continued until the end of the year.

Ba íospartaigh gorta iad a thosaigh i samhradh 1943 agus a lean ar aghaidh go dtí deireadh na bliana.

When it ended, two to three million people had died of starvation and disease.

Nuair a tháinig deireadh leis, fuair dhá nó trí mhilliún duine bás den ocras agus den ghalar.

Before Partition in 1947, the British Indian province of Bengal included the territory of Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal state.

Roimh Dheighilt i 1947, bhí críoch na Banglaidéise agus stát Iarthar Bengal na hIndia san áireamh i gCúige Indiach na Breataine Bengal.

The famine happened because the price of rice, the staple crop, had risen more than three times between February and September 1943.

Tharla an gorta toisc go raibh praghas ríse, an barr stáplacha, ardaithe níos mó ná trí huaire idir Feabhra agus Meán Fómhair 1943.

With the Japanese occupation of Burma in 1942, the border between Bengal and Burma became the Eastern Front of the war.

Le forghabháil na Seapáine i mBurma i 1942, tháinig an teorainn idir Bengal agus Burma chun tosaigh sa chogadh.

Requisition of rice to feed soldiers stationed here increased demand.

Mhéadaigh éileamh ar rís chun saighdiúirí beatha atá lonnaithe anseo a éileamh.

But Bengal was an agriculturally developed region, had good transportation and a stable government.

Ach réigiún forbartha talmhaíochta ab ea Bengal, bhí iompar maith agus rialtas cobhsaí aige.

Fresh supply of rice should be easy to arrange.

Ba cheart go mbeadh sé furasta soláthar úr ríse a shocrú.

So why did supplies fail?

Mar sin, cén fáth ar theip ar sholáthairtí?

The Bengal famine was a calamity, but the mid-20th century was no stranger to them.

Ba mhór an trua an gorta Bengal, ach ní raibh lár an 20ú haois ina strainséir dóibh.

It remains a puzzle because it is difficult to agree on an answer to the question: what caused the famine?

Is bhfreagra é fós toisc go bhfuil sé deacair aontú ar fhreagra ar an gceist: cad ba chúis leis an ngorta?

Why is the answer so difficult to find?

Cén fáth go bhfuil an freagra chomh deacair a fháil?

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