![Discussing the](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Discussing_the_%22Quit_India%22_movement_with_Nehru.jpg)
The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the
All India Congress Committee
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...
by
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
on 8th August 1942, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, demanding an end to
British rule in India
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
.
After the failure of the
Cripps Mission
The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. The mission was headed by a senior minister Stafford Cripps. Cripps belonged to th ...
to secure Indian support for the British war effort, Gandhi made a call to ''Do or Die'' in his
Quit India
The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...
movement delivered in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at the
Gowalia Tank Maidan
Gowalia Tank Maidan, officially renamed August Kranti Maidan, is a park in Grant Road West, in South Mumbai, in which Mahatma Gandhi issued the Quit India speech on 8 August 1942. It decreed that unless the British left India immediately, ma ...
.
The All India Congress Committee launched a mass protest demanding what Gandhi called "An Orderly British Withdrawal" from India. Even though it was at war, the British were prepared to act. Almost the entire leadership of the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
was imprisoned without trial within hours of Gandhi's speech. Most spent the rest of the war in prison and out of contact with the masses. The British had the support of the
Viceroy's Council, of the
All India Muslim League, the
Hindu Mahasabha, the princely states, the
Indian Imperial Police, the
British Indian Army, and the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
. Many Indian businessmen profiting from heavy wartime spending did not support the Quit India Movement. Many students paid more attention to
Subhas Chandra Bose, who was in exile and supporting the
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
. The only outside support came from the Americans, as President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
pressured Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
to give in to some of the Indian demands.
Sporadic small-scale violence took place around the country and the British arrested tens of thousands of leaders, keeping them imprisoned until 1945. Ultimately, the British government realised that India was ungovernable in the long run, and the question for the postwar era became how to exit gracefully and peacefully.
In 1992, the
Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...
issued a 1 rupee commemorative coin to mark the
Golden Jubilee of the Quit India Movement.
World War II and Indian involvement
In 1939, Indian nationalists were angry that British
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...
,
Lord Linlithgow
Marquess of Linlithgow, in the County of Linlithgow or West Lothian, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 23 October 1902 for John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun. The current holder of the title is Adrian Hope.
This ...
, brought India into the war without consultation with them. The Muslim League supported the war, but Congress was divided.
At the outbreak of war, the Congress Party had passed a resolution during the Wardha meeting of the working-committee in September 1939, conditionally supporting the fight against fascism, but were rebuffed when they asked for independence in return.
Gandhi had not supported this initiative, as he could not reconcile an endorsement for war (he was a committed believer in non-violent resistance, used in the
Indian Independence Movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
and proposed even against
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
,
Benito Mussolini, and
Hideki Tojo
Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...
). However, at the height of the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
, Gandhi had stated his support for the fight against racism and of the British war effort, stating he did not seek to raise an independent India from the ashes of Britain. However, opinions remained divided. The long-term British policy of limiting investment in India and using the country as a market and source of revenue had left the Indian Army relatively weak and poorly armed and trained and forced the British to become net contributors to India's budget, while taxes were sharply increased and the general level of prices doubled: although many Indian businesses benefited from increased war production, in general business "felt rebuffed by the government" and in particular the refusal of the British Raj to give Indians a greater role in organising and mobilising the economy for wartime production.
After the onset of the war, only a group led by
Subhas Chandra Bose took any decisive action. Bose organised the ''
Indian Legion
, image = Flag of the Indian Legion.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = Flag of the Indian Legion
, country =
, allegiance = Adolf ...
'' in Germany, reorganised the
Indian National Army with Japanese assistance, and soliciting help from the
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
, conducted a
guerrilla war
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...
against the British authorities.
Cripps' Mission
In March 1942, faced with an dissatisfied sub-continent only reluctantly participating in the war and deterioration in the war situation in Europe and with growing dissatisfaction among Indian troops and among the civilian population in the sub-continent, the British government sent a delegation to India under
Stafford Cripps, the
Leader of the House of Commons
The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...
, in what came to be known as the
Cripps mission
The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. The mission was headed by a senior minister Stafford Cripps. Cripps belonged to th ...
. The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
a deal to obtain total co-operation during the war, in return for
devolution and distribution of power from the crown and the
Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...
to an elected Indian legislature. The talks failed, as they did not address the key demand of a timetable of self-government and of the powers to be relinquished, essentially making an offer of limited dominion-status that was unacceptable to the Indian movement.
Factors contributing to the movement's launch
In 1939, with the outbreak of war between Germany and Britain, India became a party to the war by being a constituent component of the British Empire. Following this declaration, the Congress Working Committee at its meeting on 10 October 1939, passed a resolution condemning the aggressive activities of the Germans. At the same time, the resolution also stated that India could not associate herself with war unless it was consulted first. Responding to this declaration, the Viceroy issued a statement on 17 October wherein he claimed that Britain is waging a war driven with the intention of strengthening peace in the world. He also stated that after the war, the government would initiate modifications in the Act of 1935, in accordance with the desires of the Indians.
Gandhi's reaction to this statement was; "the old policy of divide and rule is to continue. Congress has asked for bread and it has got stone." According to the instructions issued by High Command, the Congress ministers were directed to resign immediately. Congress ministers from eight provinces resigned following the instructions. The resignation of the ministers was an occasion of great joy and rejoicing for the leader of the Muslim League,
Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He called the date i.e. 22 December 1939
' The Day of Deliverance'. Gandhi urged Jinnah against the celebration of this day, however, it was futile. At the Muslim League Lahore Session held in March 1940, Jinnah declared in his presidential address that the Muslims of the country wanted a separate electorate, Pakistan.
In the meanwhile, crucial political events took place in England. Chamberlain was succeeded by Churchill as prime minister and the Conservatives, who assumed power in England, did not have a sympathetic stance towards the claims made by the Congress. In order to pacify the Indians in the circumstance of the worsening war situation, the Conservatives were forced to concede some of the demands made by the Indians. On 8 August, the Viceroy issued a statement that has come to be referred to as the "
August Offer
The August Offer was an offer made by Viceroy Linlithgow in 1940 promising the expansion of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India to include more Indians, the establishment of an advisory war council, giving full weight to minority opini ...
". However, Congress rejected the offer followed by the Muslim League.
In the context of widespread dissatisfaction that prevailed over the rejection of the demands made by the Congress, at the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Wardha, Gandhi revealed his plan to launch individual civil disobedience. Once again, the weapon of
satyagraha found popular acceptance as the best means to wage a crusade against the British. It was widely used as a mark of protest against the unwavering stance assumed by the British.
Vinoba Bhave
Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is con ...
, a follower of Gandhi, was selected by him to initiate the movement. Anti-war speeches ricocheted in all corners of the country, with the satyagrahis earnestly appealing to the people of the nation not to support the government in its war endeavours. The consequence of this satyagrahi campaign was the arrest of almost fourteen thousand satyagrahis. On 3 December 1941, the Viceroy ordered the acquittal of all the satyagrahis. In Europe the war situation became more critical with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Congress realised the necessity for appraising their program. Subsequently, the movement was withdrawn.
The Cripps' Mission of March (1942) and its failure also played an important role in Gandhi's call for The Quit India Movement. In order to end the deadlock on 22 March 1942, the British government sent Sir Stafford Cripps to talk terms with the Indian political parties and secure their support in Britain's war efforts. A draft declaration of the British Government was presented, which included terms like the establishment of Dominion, the establishment of a Constituent Assembly, and right of the provinces to make separate constitutions. However, these were to be only after the cessation of the Second World War. According to Congress, this declaration offered India an only promise that was to be fulfilled in the future. Commenting on this Gandhi said, "It is a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank." Other factors that contributed were the threat of Japanese invasion of India and the realisation of the national leaders of the incapacity of the British to defend India.
Resolution for immediate independence
The Congress Working Committee meeting at
Wardha
Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bounda ...
(14 July 1942) adopted a resolution demanding complete independence from the
British government. The draft proposed massive
civil disobedience if the British did not accede to the demands. It was passed at Bombay
However, it proved to be controversial within the party. A prominent Congress national leader,
Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, quit the Congress over this decision, and so did some local and regional level organisers.
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
and
Maulana Azad
Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following Ind ...
were apprehensive and critical of the call, but backed it and stuck with Gandhi's
leadership
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
until the end.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...
,
Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...
and
Anugrah Narayan Sinha openly and enthusiastically supported such a disobedience movement, as did many veteran Gandhians and socialists like
Asoka Mehta
Asoka Mehta (24 October 1911, Bhavnagar – 10 December 1984, New Delhi) was an Indian freedom fighter and socialist politician. He helped organize the socialist wing Congress Socialist Party of the Indian National Congress, along with Rambriksh ...
and
Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...
.
Allama Mashriqi
Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi ( ur, ; August 1888 27 August 1963), also known by the honorary title Allama Mashriqi (), was a British Indian, and later, Pakistani mathematician, logician, political theorist, Islamic scholar and the founder of th ...
(head of the
Khaksar Tehrik) was called by Jawaharlal Nehru to join the Quit India Movement. Mashriqi was apprehensive of its outcome and did not agree with the Congress Working Committee's resolution. On 28 July 1942, Allama Mashriqi sent the following telegram to
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtun, independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar ...
,
Mohandas Gandhi,
C. Rajagopalachari
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...
,
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
,
Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...
and
Pattabhi Sitaramayya
Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya (24 November 1880 – 17 December 1959) was an Indian independence activist and political leader in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was also the first governor (1 November 1956 – 13 June 1957) of Madhya Pradesh. ...
. He also sent a copy to
Bulusu Sambamurti
Bulusu Sambamurti (4 March 1886 – 2 February 1958) was an Indian lawyer, politician and freedom-fighter, who served as the President of the Madras Legislative Council from 1937 to 1942. He was thus the first speaker of Madras presidency assembl ...
(former Speaker of the
Madras Assembly). The telegram was published in the press, and stated:
The resolution said:
Opposition to the Quit India Movement
![Quit India Movement 2017 stampsheet 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Quit_India_Movement_2017_stampsheet_2.jpg)
Several political groups active during the
Indian Independence Movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
were opposed to the Quit India Movement. These included the
Muslim League Muslim League may refer to:
Political parties Subcontinent
; British India
*All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan.
**Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...
, the
Hindu Mahasabha and
princely states
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...
as below:
Hindu Mahasabha
Hindu nationalist parties like the
Hindu Mahasabha openly opposed the call for the Quit India Movement and boycotted it officially.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (), Marathi pronunciation: inaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ also commonly known as Veer Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966), was an Indian politician, activist, and writer.
Savarkar developed the Hindu nationali ...
, the president of the Hindu Mahasabha at that time, even went to the extent of writing a letter titled "''Stick to your Posts''", in which he instructed Hindu Sabhaites who happened to be "members of municipalities, local bodies, legislatures or those serving in the army... to stick to their posts" across the country, and not to join the Quit India Movement at any cost. But later after requests and persuasions and realising the importance of the bigger role of Indian independence he chose to join the Indian independence movement.
Following the Hindu Mahasabha's official decision to boycott the Quit India movement,
Syama Prasad Mukherjee
Syama Prasad Mukherjee (6 July 1901 – 23 June 1953) was an Indian politician, barrister and academician, who served as India's first Minister for Industry and Supply (currently known as Ministry of Commerce and Industry) in Jawaharlal Nehru' ...
, leader of the Hindu Mahasabha in Bengal, (which was a part of the ruling coalition in Bengal led by
Krishak Praja Party of
Fazlul Haq Fazlul Haq ( ar, فضل الحق) is a male Muslim given name, meaning ''bounty of the Truth'', referring to ''Al-Haqq'', one of the Names of God in Islam. Both parts of the name are subject to varying transliteration, as the first part may be writ ...
), wrote a letter to the British Government as to how they should respond, if the Congress gave a call to the British rulers to quit India. In this letter, dated 26 July 1942 he wrote:
“Let me now refer to the situation that may be created in the province as a result of any widespread movement launched by the Congress. Anybody, who during the war, plans to stir up mass feeling, resulting internal disturbances or insecurity, must be resisted by any Government that may function for the time being”. In this way he managed to gain insights of the British government and effectively give information of the independence leaders.
Mukherjee reiterated that the Fazlul Haq led Bengal Government, along with its alliance partner Hindu Mahasabha, would make every possible effort to defeat the Quit India Movement in the province of Bengal and made a concrete proposal as regards this:
“The question is how to combat this movement (Quit India) in Bengal? The administration of the province should be carried on in such a manner that in spite of the best efforts of the Congress, this movement will fail to take root in the province. It should be possible for us, especially responsible Ministers, to be able to tell the public that the freedom for which the Congress has started the movement, already belongs to the representatives of the people. In some spheres it might be limited during the emergency. Indian have to trust the British, not for the sake for Britain, not for any advantage that the British might gain, but for the maintenance of the defence and freedom of the province itself. You, as Governor, will function as the constitutional head of the province and will be guided entirely on the advice of your Minister.
The Indian historian
R.C. Majumdar noted this fact and states:
"Shyam Prasad ended the letter with a discussion of the mass movement organised by the Congress. He expressed the apprehension that the movement would create internal disorder and will endanger internal security during the war by exciting popular feeling and he opined that any government in power has to suppress it, but that according to him could not be done only by persecution.... In that letter he mentioned item wise the steps to be taken for dealing with the situation .... "
Princely States
The movement had less support in the princely states, as the princes were strongly opposed and funded the opposition.
The Indian nationalists had very little international support. They knew that the United States strongly supported Indian independence, in principle, and believed the U.S. was an ally. However, after Churchill threatened to resign if pushed too hard, the U.S. quietly supported him while bombarding Indians with propaganda designed to strengthen public support of the war effort. The poorly run American operation annoyed the Indians.
Local violence and parallel governments
![QUITIN5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/QUITIN5.JPG)
According to John F. Riddick, from 9 August 1942 to 21 September 1942, the Quit India Movement:
:attacked 550 post offices, 250 railway stations, damaged many rail lines, destroyed 70 police stations, and burned or damaged 85 other government buildings. There were about 2,500 instances of telegraph wires being cut. The greatest level of violence occurred in Bihar. The Government of India deployed 57 battalions of British troops to restore order.
At the national level the lack of leadership meant the ability to galvanise rebellion was limited. The movement had a local impact in some areas. especially at
Satara in Maharashtra,
Talcher
Talcher is one of the 4 sub-divisions of Angul district in the Indian state of Odisha.
History
During the British Raj Talcher was the capital of Talcher State, one of the princely states of the Eastern States Agency.Malleson, G. B.: ''An his ...
in Odisha, and
Midnapore.
In
Tamluk
Tamluk () is a town and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purba Medinipur district. Though there is some controversy, scholars have generally agreed that present-day Tamluk is the site of the an ...
and
Contai
Contai is a coastal and subdivisional city and a municipality in Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Contai subdivision. It is the second most populated city of the district.According to the geologists, t ...
subdivisions of Midnapore, the local populace were successful in establishing parallel government
Tamluk National Government, which continued to function, until Gandhi personally requested the leaders to disband in 1944.
A minor uprising took place in
Ballia
Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the Ganges and the Ghaghara.The city is situated east of Varanasi and about 380 ...
, now the easternmost district of Uttar Pradesh. People overthrew the district administration, broke open the jail, released the arrested Congress leaders and established their own independent rule. It took weeks before the British could reestablish their writ in the district. Of special importance in
Saurashtra (in western Gujarat) was the role of the region's 'baharvatiya' tradition (i.e. going outside the law) which abetted the sabotage activities of the movement there.
In Adas village in
Kaira district
Kheda District is one of the thirty-three districts of Gujarat state in western India. Its central city, Kheda, is the administrative headquarters of the district.
History
Formerly known as Kaira district, it was divided in two with the sou ...
, six people died and many more wounded in
police shooting incident.
In rural west Bengal, the Quit India Movement was fuelled by peasants' resentment against the new war taxes and the forced rice exports. There was open resistance to the point of rebellion in 1942 until the
great famine of 1943 suspended the movement.
Suppression of the movement
One of the important achievements of the movement was keeping the Congress party united through all the trials and tribulations that followed. The British, already alarmed by the advance of the Japanese army to the India-Burma border, responded by imprisoning Gandhi. All the members of the Party's Working Committee (national leadership) were imprisoned as well. Due to the arrest of major leaders, a young and until then relatively unknown
Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the AICC session on 9 August and hoisted the flag; later the Congress party was banned. These actions only created sympathy for the cause among the population. Despite lack of direct leadership, large protests and demonstrations were held all over the country. Workers remained absent in large groups and strikes were called. Not all demonstrations were peaceful, at some places bombs exploded, government buildings were set on fire, electricity was cut and transport and communication lines were severed.
The British swiftly responded with mass detentions. Over 100,000 arrests were made, mass fines were levied and demonstrators were subjected to public flogging. Hundreds of civilians were killed in violence many shot by the police army. Many national leaders went underground and continued their struggle by broadcasting messages over clandestine
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
stations, distributing pamphlets and establishing parallel governments. The British sense of crisis was strong enough that a battleship was specifically set aside to take Gandhi and the Congress leaders out of India, possibly to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
or
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
but ultimately did not take that step out of fear of intensifying the revolt.
The Congress leadership was cut off from the rest of the world for over three years. Gandhi's wife
Kasturba Gandhi
Kasturbai Mohandas Gandhi (, born Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was an Indian political activist. She married Mohandas Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, in 1883. With her husband and her eldest so ...
and his personal secretary
Mahadev Desai died in months and Gandhi's health was failing, despite this Gandhi went on a 21-day fast and maintained his resolve to continuous resistance. Although the British released Gandhi on account of his health in 1944, he kept up the resistance, demanding the release of the Congress leadership.
By early 1944, India was mostly peaceful again, while the Congress leadership was still incarcerated. A sense that the movement had couldn't gain enough success depressed many nationalists, while Jinnah and the Muslim League, as well as Congress opponents such as the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...
and the
Hindu Mahasabha sought to gain political mileage, criticising Gandhi and the Congress Party.
See also
*
Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan
Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan (5 January 1905 – 22 June 1988) was a Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller and a prolific writer from India. He is considered one of the great activists of Buddhism of the 20th century. He was influenced by the Buddhist ...
*
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
*
Government of Azad Hind
The Provisional Government of Free India (''Ārzī Hukūmat-e-Āzād Hind'') or, more simply, ''Azad Hind'', was an Indian provisional government established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II. It was created in October 1943 ...
*
Indian Independence Movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
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Indian nationalism
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Kallara-Pangode Struggle
The Kallara-Pangode Struggle is one of the 39 agitations declared by the Government of India as the movements that led to the country gaining independence from the British rule. It is listed alongside some of the most important movements of Indi ...
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Non-Cooperation Movement
The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.
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Rahul Sankrityayan
Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...
References
Works cited
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Further reading
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Akbar, M.J. ''Nehru: The Making of India'' (Viking, 1988), popular biography
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* Clymer, Kenton J. ''Quest for Freedom: The United States and India's Independence'' (Columbia University Press, 1995
online edition*
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* Hutchins, Francis G. ''India's Revolution: Gandhi and the Quit India Movement'' (1973)
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* Krishan, Shri. "Crowd vigour and social identity: The Quit India Movement in western India." ''Indian Economic & Social History Review'' 33.4 (1996): 459–479.
* Panigrahi; D. N. ''India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat'' (Routledge, 2004
online edition*
* Patil, V. I. ''Gandhiji, Nehruji and the Quit India Movement'' (1984)
* Read, Anthony, and David Fisher; ''The Proudest Day: India's Long Road to Independence'' (W. W. Norton, 1999
online edition detailed scholarly history
* Venkataramani, M. S.; Shrivastava, B. K. ''Quit India: The American Response to the 1942 Struggle'' (1979)
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* Muni, S. D. "The Quit India Movement: A Review Article," ''International Studies,'' (Jan 1977,) 16#1 pp 157–168,
* Shourie, Arun (1991). "The Only fatherland": Communists, "Quit India", and the Soviet Union. New Delhi: ASA Publications.
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Mansergh, Nicholas
Philip Nicholas Seton Mansergh (27 June 1910 – 16 January 1991) was a historian. His focus was on Ireland and the British Commonwealth. As the Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History at Cambridge University after 1953, he trained many of the ...
, and E. W. R. Lumby, eds. ''India: The Transfer of Power 1942–7. Vol. II. 'Quit India' 30 April-21 September 1942'' (London:
Her Majesty's Stationery Office
The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...
, 1971), 1044p
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External links
{{Authority control
1942 protests
1942 establishments in India
1942 in India
Gandhism
Articles containing video clips
India in World War II
British Empire in World War II
Asian resistance to colonialism