Recalling the ‘Quit India Movement’

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• On this day 80 years ago on August 8, 1942 the people of India launched the decisive final phase of the struggle for independence.

Quit India movement

• Also known as the India August Movement or August Kranti. 
• It was officially launched by the Indian National Congress (INC) led by Mahatma Gandhi on 9 August 1942.
• The AICC conference in Mumbai on August 8, 1942, approved the resolution of the Quit India movement. 
  • Following the defeat of the Cripps Mission, the resolution of the Quit India movement was adopted at the Mumbai session.
• The movement gave the slogans ‘Quit India’ or ‘Bharat Chodo’. Gandhi gave the slogan to the people ‘Do or die’.
• Mahatma Gandhi served as the chairman of the All India Congress Committee, which decided to start the movement at the Bombay session.
  • After the arrest of major leaders, young Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the AICC session.
• Phases:
  • The first half of the movement was peaceful with demonstrations and processions. The peaceful protest was carried till Mahatma Gandhi’s release.
  • The second half of the movement was violent with raids and setting fire at post offices, government buildings and railway stations. 
    • Lord Linlithgow adopted the policy of violence.
  • The final phase of the movement was marked on September 1942 where mobs getting together and bombings in government places of Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh.
• The British refused to grant immediate independence and stated that it could only be granted after the war ended. 
  • Finally, India got independence in 1947.

Major activities 

• There were hartals and processions all around the nation during the movement. With firings, lathi charges, and arrests, the British government had enacted its horror.
• Violence was used by protesters as they stormed governmental structures, destroyed railroad tracks, and interfered with postal and telegraph services.
• Numerous altercations with the police took place. Any news regarding the migration could not be published, according to the British authorities.
  • By the end of 1942, there were about 60,000 prisoners and hundreds had perished.
• In addition to the suffering brought on by the British government, Bengal experienced a horrific food crisis that resulted in the deaths of almost 30 lakh people.
• After all of this, Gandhiji embarked on a 21-day fast after being freed from prison in 1944. 
  • Fortunately, Britain’s position had significantly changed by the end of World War II, making it impossible for them to reign over India.

The resolution stated the provisions of the movement as: 

• An immediate end to British rule over India.
• Declaration of the commitment of free India to defend itself against all kinds of imperialism and fascism.
• Formation of a provisional government of India after British withdrawal.
• Sanctioning a civil disobedience movement against British rule.

Significance of the movement 

• Slogans like “Vande Mataram”, “Jai Hind”, “Inquilab Zindabad” or powerful symbols like charkha, rakhi, salt or khadi acted as a binding force for the masses.
• Despite heavy-handed suppression by the government, the people were unfazed and continued their struggle.
• Even though the government said that independence could be granted only after the end of the war, the movement drove home the point that India could not be governed without the support of the Indians.
• The movement placed the demand for complete independence at the top agenda of the freedom movement.
• Public morale and anti-British sentiment were enhanced.

Challenges associated with movement/ Causes of failure 

• Detention of leaders: However, the march didn’t go as planned, since the majority of the Congress leaders were unexpectedly detained.
  • Several national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Abdul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were arrested. 
• The Congress was declared an unlawful association: leaders were arrested and its offices all over the country were raided and their funds were frozen.
  • They were imprisoned in various locations across the nation and the congress party was outlawed.
• The August Movement was plagued by a lack of leadership, repression by the British government, shoddy organisation, and a fuzzy action plan. Even so, it was successful in unifying the Indian people as a whole. 
• External support: The Viceroy’s Council of Muslims, Communist Party and Americans supported Britishers.

Role of Gandhi

• Gandhiji’s clarion call of “Do or Die” in his celebrated Quit India speech at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay, lent a sense of urgency to the growing upsurge against British rule, with the entire nation standing as one.
• The collective will of the Indian people, driven by zeal to govern themselves and shape their future, found expression in the momentous events that followed, leading inevitably to the freedom of the country on August 15, 1947.
• Gandhiji gave a moral philosophy to the masses and galvanised them.
• The significance of the mantra of ahimsa lies in the fact that it is rooted in the cultural and civilisational ethos of our great nation.

Gandhi’s instructions to various sections of the public 

• Government servants: do not resign your job but proclaim loyalty to the INC.
• Soldiers: be with the army but refrain from firing on compatriots.
• Peasants: pay the agreed-upon rent if the landlords/Zamindars are anti-government; if they are pro-government, do not pay the rent.
• Students: can leave studies if they are confident enough. 
• Princes: support the people and accept the sovereignty of them.
• People of the princely states: support the ruler only if he is anti-government; declare them as part of the Indian nation.

Way Forward

• Eighty years after Gandhiji’s call of Quit India, as India celebrates 75 years of Independence under the defining rubric of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Source: IE