SOCIAL SCIENTIST the Second World War and thus departs from the existing historiography on the subject6. THE SECOND WORLD WAR AS A CATALYST OF CHANGE Whilst the Second World War brought economic prosperity to Indian industrialists and big business houses, it also increased the magnitude of mass suffering. The incidence of rampant inflation, widespread corruption, chronic shortages and vigorous 'black' markets, especially between 1942 and 1945, culminated in a devastating famine that ravaged Eastern, as well as parts of Western and Southern India in the period 7. The resultant mass discontent gradually began to be incorporated in, and often began to define, political movements mobilised against the colonial state: a process illustrated by the growing interaction between mass protest movements and rival nationalist organisations, political parties, radical peasant bodies and trade unions. At another level, the war also damaged the veneer of 'invincibility' that surrounded the Raj. The Indian refugees from Burma brought back tales of British defeat by an Asian enemy - an oft repeated racial motif in nationalist propaganda material encouraging the overthrow of the Raj - and the official attempts to quash such 'defeatism' only had the effect of giving credibility to 'rumours' about the impending collapse of the colonial regime8. The levels of discontent and willingness to confront the colonial administration were fuelled by a number of other factors. For instance, the initiation of a series of strategic measures - like the so-called 'Denial' policy and the requisitioning of private property for the creation of military installations - proved extremely disruptive to the local economies. Moreover, the presence of an enormous Allied army composed of British, Indian, African, Chinese and Australasian troops in a region unprepared for war resulted in furthering social tensions9. The often fractions nature of the encounter between these troops and the local populace gave nationalist activists the opportunity to use the issue to stoke discontent against the administration. At the level of 'high polities', it was obvious to all that the Raj was on the retreat. This realisation triggered debates between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League over the nature of a future Indian government. Sadly, the bickering between them would leave an imprint on local politics: it contributed to the visible sharpening of the communal tensions in the wartime years. In the Muslim majority province of Bengal, for instance, the League was