The Forgotten Mutiny

When one talks about a Mutiny in India one is immediately reminded of the Revolt of 1857 or as it is now called “The First War of Indian Independence”. However another mutiny that took place just before our independence is largely ignored.This was the Naval Mutiny that started on February 18, 1946 in Bombay.Like most revolts the Naval Mutiny too had a rather innocuous beginning. About athousand ratings of HMIS TALWAR, the signal Training ship of the Royal Indian Navyin Bombay went on a

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(striking work) and a hunger strike. The incident which precipitated this unusual action was the alleged insult to an Indian rating by a Britishofficer when the rating drew the officer’s attention to some of the problems they werefacing.This

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was ignored by the Britishers and before they knew it they had a full fledgedmutiny on their hands. Moreover unlike earlier this was a mutiny that receivedunprecedented public support.That the British chose to ignore this

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by a 1000 naval ratings was a bit surprising because just twelve days earlier 600 members, including officers of the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) camp situated close by on Marine Drive went on a hunger strike as a protest against an insult by the Camp Commander. This hunger strike was supported bythe RIAF men at Delhi, Lahore and Karachi forcing the British to take remedialmeasures.The strike by the Naval ratings soon took serious proportions. Hundreds of strikers fromthe sloops, minesweepers and shore establishments in Bombay demonstrated for 2 hoursalong Hornby Road near VT (now the very busy D.N. Road near CST). British personnelof the Defence forces were singled out for attacks by the strikers who were armed onlywith hammers, crowbars and hockey sticks. The Union Jack was lowered from the shipsand Congress and Muslim League flags were hoisted.A reign of terror prevailed in Flora Fountain for an hour. Vehicles carrying mail werestopped and the mail burnt. British men and women going in cars and victorias weremade to get down and shout “Jai Hind”. Guns were trained on the Taj Mahal hotel, theYacht Club and other buildings from morning till evening.Absolute chaos prevailed for the next few days. 2000 men of HMIS AKBAR joined thestrike. There was firing on the naval ratings in Castle Barracks. 1000 RIAF men from theMarine Drive and Andheri Camps also joined in sympathy.The strike soon spread to other parts of India. The ratings in Calcutta, Madras, Karachiand Vizag also went on strike shouting slogans “Strike for Bombay” “Release 11,000INA prisoners” and “Jai Hind”.