India's Naval ratings yet to be recognised as national heroes

The Naval uprising of February 1946 shook the foundations of the British Empire and hastened the transfer of power to liberate India, but the political leadership never gave the ratings their due.

- CHOODIE SHIVARAM

India's freedom movement is an ever-green field for historians, researchers, academicians, and students. Tucked away into obscurity in the pages of history are movements, moments, and their heroes who liberated India from the Imperial clutches, who are yet to be recognised as national heroes.

The Naval uprising of February 1946 is one such movement that shook the foundations of the British Empire and hastened the transfer of power to liberate India.

HMIS Talwar, a training establishment of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) in Bombay, hit the headlines when, on 18th February 1946, 1,500 ratings stormed out of the mess refusing to have breakfast because the quality was poor and quantity was inadequate. An uproar filled the air; in no time, Quit India slogans rocked the establishment. Protest for jam and butter was only a ruse for a larger mission. The ratings had become the instruments to India's freedom, to change her destiny. It was as if they were completing the unfinished task of the INA.

The foundation for this protest was set on 1st December 1945, when HMIS Talwar was to be opened to the public for the Navy Day celebrations. On the previous night, B.C. Dutta, a rating in the communications branch, along with a few confidants stealthily wrote slogans on the wall.

Brooms strewn around, burnt flags, buckets, and "Quit India", "kill the white dogs" slogans greeted the commanding officer and guests the next morning. The operation was so well executed that no arrests could be made.

Every day, Quit India slogans appeared on the walls of HMIS Talwar, the unit's vehicles, and on the commander's car. This brazen defiance could not be contained; the perpetrators could not be found.