Forgotten names of RIN

Forgotten names of RIN

Subject: Modern History

Section: Freedom struggle

Context: Author Pramod Kapoor brings out in his meticulously researched history of the short-lived Royal Indian Navy (RIN) mutiny, that Admiral John Henry Godfrey, who headed the RIN, was the inspiration for spy thriller writer Ian Fleming’s character ‘M’, the boss of his swashbuckling hero James Bond.

Concept:

Important Personalities of RIN (1946)

1. John Henry Godfrey– Director of Naval Intelligence in 1939 appointed Fleming as his assistant and treated him as his son. He was made the scapegoat by his naval bosses in London and replaced the day after the mutiny ended.
2. Rishi Dev Puri– played a key role in fomenting the mutiny. He along with BC Dutt to create some embarrassment painted the words “Jai Hind” and “Quit India” on the HMIS Talwar platform where the new Commander-in-Chief was going to address the gathering. BC Dutt was arrested due to seditious literature found in his locker and Puri was discharged from the navy three weeks before the actual event. Incidentally, Puri, who once earned a living as a professional piano player in London, was the younger brother of Vidya Vikas Purie, who, along with his children, founded the India Today media empire.

RIN Mutiny:

• The ratings of the RIN battleship HMIS “Talwar”, docked at Bombay, went on strike on 18 February 1946 over the issues of bad food and adverse living conditions.
• Other demands of mutineers include:
• release of soldiers who had fought in the Azad Hind Fauj or the Indian National Army
• wanted the trial of these soldiers to be stopped, and demanded that they be acquitted
• asked for the withdrawal of Indian troops from Indonesia and Egypt
• refused to fight against people elsewhere in the world who were fighting for freedom
• The ratings went all-out to urge the people of Bombay to rise in support of their revolt – the greatest in the naval history – spreading to 78 ships and 22 units all along the Indian coastline.
• In response to their call, several processions were taken out in Bombay, Karachi, Calcutta and other places in the subsequent days.
• Aruna Asaf Ali, Minoo Masani and Jayaprakash Narayan involved with the ratings.
• Hundreds of Indian citizens were killed and thousands were injured in the British military and police firing on the demonstrators.
• Sardar Patel managed to make the ratings surrender on 24 February 1946. However, they declared if their demands are not conceded they will go on strike again.