A Warning: In Afghanistan, Echoes of Britain’s 1947 Departure from India
History shows us what could unfold in the wake of a hasty US-led exit from Afghanistan
The unimaginable bloodletting unleashed during Britain’s departure from its South Asian colonies in 1947 provides a cautionary tale as the August 31 deadline looms over American-led evacuations from Afghanistan. A quick look at history urges our immediate attention to Afghan women and men pleading to reporters, “I’m telling you, they’re going to kill me.” British colonial history shows us what could happen if we fail to treat Afghan pleas with seriousness and begs us to go the extra mile now in preventing an even greater nightmare. In this light, Boris Johnson may have been right in urging Joe Biden to extend the evacuation timeline from Afghanistan.
For a variety of reasons, most of us do not know what the end of occupation by a global superpower looks like. Histories of retreating empires, as told by the occupied, cannot easily be found in our textbooks. Now modern technologies which democratize the information age are enabling new histories to come to light. Relevant to our current predicament are survivors’ recollections of Britain’s “shameful flight,” in Winston Churchill’s own words, from British India in 1947.
Britain’s hasty departure from its South Asian colonies in 1947 not only resulted in the creation of two new countries, but the unmaking of hundreds of regional kingdoms and an unprecedented bloodbath as extremist militias ceased the power vacuum to unleash mass violence and ethnic cleansing. A mass refugee crisis resulted at the time and remains the largest our world has known in recorded history. Harrowing legacies of the violence continue to haunt the memories of millions of descendants today. Nearly 14 million people lost their homes overnight between 1946 and 1948 as a result of ethnic cleansing. The chaos spun out of control as members of the armed forces became involved in sectarian violence. As many as 3 million individuals lost their lives, many of them women who committed suicide or worse, were subjected to torture, sexual violence, mutilation and brutal murder. Numerous children were orphaned, or kidnapped and enslaved into bonded labor. Many who managed to escape violence succumbed to starvation and waterborne disease. Back home, Britons remained largely unaware of the mayhem unfolding in South Asia.
Last week, searing clips of men free-falling from a C-17 plane mid-air prompted global attention and public scrutiny of the situation in Afghanistan. The world has certainly changed since 1947. Social media today provides access to real time crowdsourced information, commanding a greater level of responsibility from those in power.
How bad could it get and what should be the extent of the American responsibility towards the wellbeing of Afghans? Oral history provides some answers to these questions. While the twenty year US occupation of Afghanistan differs significantly from Britain’s centuries long colonial history, lessons embedded within the story of Britain’s accelerated departure still apply, and are critical right now.
In the late 1940’s the combination of a growing freedom movement in British India and Britain’s economic fall out from World War II led to Britain’s exit from the South Asian subcontinent after nearly 300 years of economic and military involvement. Freedom for British Indian colonies was finally fast-tracked with the Labour Party’s ascent to power in 1945.
The change in British leadership, while reigning in freedom for British India, also brought a disconnect in foreign policy which had unintended consequences on the organization of British departure from its colonies in 1947. Similarly today, the US departure from Afghanistan too was ushered in during a time of transition in US political administration.
In South Asia, the British left behind well structured militaries which ultimately upheld democracy (though shaky at times), with many of the extremist militias vying for power in 1947 eventually absorbing into the democratic system. In Afghanistan, some argue the US helped empower a militant group by negotiating the exit deal with them in 2020. This new collaboration may have played its role, together with corruption, in the sudden collapse of the US-backed Afghan military and democratic government Americans spent 20 years setting up. In a near check-mate move, a large cache of America’s military assets too, meant for the Afghan military, were seized by the Taliban.
The situation in Afghanistan remains precarious. Groups opposing the Taliban are gathering steam implying the potential for more civil conflict. Or worse, despite their televised reassurances right now, once the international evacuations are over, the Taliban will indeed act out retributions against those who aided Americans among others. The economic situation too looks bleak, with industries and financial systems having collapsed, at least for now. Such situations bring lawlessness, food insecurity, economic uncertainty and immense safety concerns. In any case, the potential for harm to ordinary citizens now vying for refuge is very real. We do not know what kind of new Afghanistan will emerge and whether the new leadership can adequately provide safety to all citizens as it is saying, including those who aided the Americans or fought the Taliban as members of the Afghan military.
We can help ensure a bloodbath will not ensue by nudging Washington in our individual capacities, into using every tool at our disposal in working with the international community as well as the Taliban in creating safe passage for Afghans who wish to take refuge elsewhere, and to ensure that aid and humanitarian organizations have a safe passage into Afghanistan to support its citizens with their basic needs. Images from 1947 of refugees driven by hunger to strip trees of every leaf in their path come to mind.
It is imperative now that we retain an awareness of our own disjointed approach to Afghanistan, and ensure that our American-led exit does not morph into a “shameful flight,” but rather evolves into a more responsible transfer of power with an acute sense of humanitarian realities and a close ear to the ground. Each of us can do this by contacting our representatives in Washington today.
In short, the comparison to 1947 is invoked here to illustrate that a sudden transition of power can lead to a loss of administrative services and a lull in law and order, giving rise to a wave of crime, looting, free reign for militants, economic collapse, mass displacements and bloodshed.
Every decision is critical now. Should we, as Americans, ignore this responsibility, the pain could be real for millions and the memory of a ‘shameful’ departure by the US will be branded in global memory for decades to come.
