In 1943, during World War Two, Bengal in British-run India was hit with a severe shortage of food.

Following the Japanese occupation of Burma, the Allied forces had halted the movement of food in the region.

No one knows how many people died but estimates range between 3m and 5m people.

Professor Rafiqul Islam was a child in Bengal at the time. He spoke to Witness about the little-known famine that claimed so many lives.

Witness is a World Service programme of the stories of our times told by the people who were there.