1943 Bengal Famine

In 1943, during the Second World War, famine struck Bengal in British-run India following the Japanese occupation of neighbouring Burma. No one knows how many people died in the famine but estimates range from 3 to 5 million. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Professor Rafiqul Islam who lived through the famine, one of the worst catastrophes ever to occur under British rule.

(Photo; Queue for food in Calcutta. Credit: Corbis)