Be Mains Ready

Approach

• Give a brief introduction of RIN Mutiny.
• List the causes of mutiny.
• Explain its significance in India’s independence movement.
• Conclusion

Introduction

The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) uprising was a revolt by the Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs) who had faced a lot of hardships during the Second World War and when the war was coming to an end, the ratings were left with no certainty about their jobs.

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Causes of RIN Mutiny

• Racial discrimination (unqual pay for Indian and British soldiers), unpalatable food and work conditions, abuse by superior officers, arrest of a rating for scrawling ‘Quit India’ on HMIS Talwar, INA trials, use of Indian troops in Indonesia and the demand for their withdrawal were some of the reasons behind the RIN mutiny.
• It was under these conditions that the mutineers captured several ships and anchored them at Bombay harbour.
• The rebellious ratings hoisted the tricolour, crescent, and the hammer and sickle flags on the mast of the rebel fleet. Other ratings soon joined and they went around Bombay in lorries holding Congress flags threatening Europeans and policemen. Crowds brought food to the ratings and shopkeepers invited them to take whatever they needed.
• The revolt got extensive support from several other quarters, including elements of the Royal Indian Air Force and local Police services and spread from Karachi to Calcutta.

Significance of RIN Mutiny

• This revolt was different from the other revolts in the sense that, after 1857 it was the first time that the British realized that the Royal Indian forces were no more obedient to the British commands and were in concurrence with the overall defiant nationalist sentiments prevailing in the entire country.
• Mutinies are usually confined to a particular station, establishment or ship. However, this was the first instance when the entire service joined the revolt.
• Another different feature of the mutiny was that it was directed against the British government and not against superior officers – not a single officer, British or Indian, was harmed.
• Fearless action by the masses was an expression of militancy in the popular mind. Revolt in the armed forces had a great liberating effect on the minds of people.
• It was immediately after this revolt that PM Atlee dispatched the Cabinet Mission to India, so it is also inferred that the mutiny hastened the process of transfer of power to India.
• It is also important to mention that the revolt came to an end after the nationalist leaders, Sardar Patel and Mohammad Ali Jinnah on receiving a request to intervene by the British, issued a statement calling upon the mutineers to surrender.
• It displayed that the armed forces no longer obeyed the British authority rather it was the nationalist leaders who held sway over them. The RIN revolt was seen as an event marking the end of British rule.

Conclusion

• Though not inspired by political reasons, the RIN mutiny did have political consequences.
• It is one of the most important events in India’s struggle for freedom, convincing the British government that it could no longer hold on to India.