Indian News Parade 74 highlights the welfare work performed by the British in Bengal. Having already claimed in issue 62 that the famine was over, the newsreel now reports the successful social rehabilitation of the children in Bengal, as the commentator explains that ‘these children aren’t destitute any longer’. The commentator emphasises the apparent care displayed towards the Indians – ‘they’re fed and clothed and looked after as every little citizen of India has right to be’ – seemingly ignoring the widespread criticisms labelled at the British for their role in, and response to, the Bengal famine. Sanjoy Bhattacharya has indicated the local antipathy felt towards Indian News Parade – and to the colonial rhetoric it promoted – particularly in areas affected by the famine (Bhattacharya, 2001, 95).

The item presents the children as citizens of India, with a responsibility to their country. It describes the destitute children as a ‘social waste’ and explains that girls must learn jobs ‘that will make them useful; to themselves, to the community’. The item looks to the future, as it talks of a ‘deal for tomorrow’, and, as with many of the Indian News Parades, prepares for a post-war India. ‘Nation building begins with body building’, the commentator remarks, endorsing a message of personal physical development for the good of the state that was familiar within British colonial discourse. This imagery of children in group physical displays was similarly enshrined within British pageantry, in celebrations such as the Empire Day Parades. The item concludes with shots of children in the classroom, again preparing for the promise of a new India after the War as they learn about ‘the world they live in’, and then attempt to ‘turn it into a better one’.

Although this item clearly recognises and argues for the development of a new post-war India, the film also constantly emphasises the need for continued co-operation between Britain and India. This is evident in the first two items. The first shows British initiatives to improve safety on the railways, at a moment when the railways, which were almost entirely state-owned and operated, were in increasingly poor condition. During the War, railway maintenance was postponed as workshops made munitions, trains fell into ‘battered disrepair’ and locomotive breakdowns increased eightfold from 50 to 400 failures per month out of a total of 1,700 locomotives (Headrick, 1988, 81). Despite that, the film emphasises the modern technology – evidenced also by the slow-motion footage – introduced by the British and shows British and Indian men talking together by the tracks. The following item – ‘A Gift to the Troops’ - endorses this message of Indian and British co-operation during the War, now showing the Indian man, J.A.D. Victoria, providing a recreation centre for ‘soldiers, Indian and British’.

The final two items serve as a celebration, and as a further indication of the apparent co-operation and support for the war effort. Mountbatten meets the Indian troops who have ‘overcome’ the ‘difficulties of defending India’s East Wall’ and the troops in turn raise their hats on cue and cheer him. The item indicates the relaxed nature of  ‘Lord Louis’, noting that he’s ‘certainly shortened formalities’. The final sequence recognises and acknowledges the Indian war effort. First it shows Indian Airmen honoured by ‘winning the sword of honour’, before highlighting the work of those not ‘in the limelight’, as it presents the British and Indian other ranks working together as ‘reconstruction squads’ repairing the airfield and planes. This coverage of those not usually ‘in the limelight’ may have been borne out of necessity, as the newsreel struggled to acquire the widely desired action footage. Indeed, the footage here also featured in Indian News Parade 71. On that occasion though, the commentator had presented this, somewhat flippantly, as an indication of the local support for the War effort, while the more detailed descriptions offered here are intended to acknowledge the skilled and essential work of the Indian and British other ranks.

Tom Rice (January 2009)