Japanese propaganda leaflet, 1944 circa (litho)

Japanese propaganda leaflet, 1944 circa. This shows a British officer razing Indian cotton fields and destroying an Indian family’s loom. A helpless Indian man, who is missing his fingers, looks on with his family. The text reads: ‘A sample of the British atrocities. Just to save their economy, the British committed this barbarian atrocity. Indian workers had to chop off their own fingers and lose their livelihood’. The Japanese are making reference to the ‘deindustrialisation of India’. The leaflet highlights how Britain destroyed the Indian cotton industry by imposing export duties and forcing the population to purchase cheaper milled British cotton. As part of this process there were cases of weavers having their hand looms destroyed or even having their fingers chopped off.