Quit India Movement

Quit India Movement was the next mass movement launched by the congress
under the leadership of M.K.Gandhi. He appealed to all sections of the Indian people to
participate in the movement and gave them the Mantra of “Do or Die”. We shall either free
India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery.
Unprecedented participation of the youth and the Socialist formation of parallel govts. And
underground movement emerged as some of the remarkable trends of the Quit India
Movement.

Events leading to the Quit India Movement:-

Outbreak of the Second World War:-

The Second World War (1st Sep, 1939 to 2nd Sep, 1945) was a global war that involved a
vast majority of the World’s countries including the great powers that subsequently formed
two opposing military alliances namely, the Allies (Britain, France, Russia) and the Axis
(Germany, Italy, Japan). The British Govt. of India immediately joined the war without
consulting the INC or the elected members of the Central Legislature.

The congress leaders asked how it was possible for an enslaved nation to aid others
in their fight for freedom. They, therefore demanded that India must be declared free or at
least have effective power before it could actively participate in the war. Lord Linlithgow,
the viceroy, could not give any such assurance. He declared Dominion Status as the goal of
British Policy in India. This was considered inadequate by the congress.

Thus, it was clear that the British govt. was in no mood to make any promises and
commit itself in advance on the post-war constitutional status of India. The British govt.
tried to put the religious minorities and princes against the congress. This work evoked
sharp response from the national leadership. The sharpest reaction came from Gandhi, who
was earlier advocating unconditional support to Britain. He stated that the British are
adamant on continuing with their old policy of divide and rule, ‘the Congress asked for
bread and it has got a stone’.

On 22nd Oct 1939, the congress ministries resigned as a result it had many
implications-

(1) The viceroy was happy because the congress ministries had controlled several provinces.

(2) The Muslim League was jubilant over the resignation of congress ministries and offered
its friendship to the British govt. It celebrated the day when the congress ministries resigned
as a ‘Day of Deliverance’ and ‘thanks-giving’.
Pakistan Resolution, Lahore, March 1940:-

In March 1940, at the Lahore session of the Muslim League, M.A.Jinnah propounded his
two nation theory that India comprised two nations – a Hindu nation and a Muslim nation,
who were different economically, politically, socially, culturally and historically. That
Muslims were not a minority but a nation, and therefore, they were rightfully entitled to a
nation of their own in the form of Pakistan.

August Offer (1940, 8th August):-

A change of govt. took place in Britain in May 1940, Winston Churchill became Prime
minister and Amery took over as the Secretary of state for India. The war situation in Europe
worsened. The Allies were facing defeat after defeat in war and the Nazi under Hitler were
knocking at Britain’s door. With the aim of securing India’s active cooperation in the war
efforts, the British govt. decided to offer certain concessions to the Indians known as the
August Offer (8th August, 1940) made by Lord Linlithgow, Viceroy of India. The congress
rejected the offer because the minorities especially the Muslim League were assured that
no constitutional scheme would be acceptable to the govt. unless and until it was agreed to
by the minorities. The Muslim League did not accept the offer, as it did not give a clear
assurance for the establishment of Pakistan.

Cripps mission (22nd March, 1942):-

As war situation rapidly worsened against the Allies, USSR, USA, China and Labour Party
of Britain now began to pressurise Churchill to reconsider the British policy in India and seek
active support of the Indians in the war. Consequently, the govt. released many political
prisoners. And after Japan occupied Rangoon in March 1942, bringing the war to India’s
doorstep, the British decided to send Cripps mission to India.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent the leader of the House of Commons, Sir
Stafford Cripps, with the aim of securing India’s active support in the war effort. He arrived
in India on 22nd March 1942 with a set of proposals and opened negotiations with Indian
leaders. The following proposals were –

(1) India would be given Dominion status, when the war would end.

(2) The Constituent Assembly would be set up. It would consist of the members elected by
the Lower House of Indian Legislature and the representative of the Princely States
nominated by their rulers. It would be set up to draft a new constitution.

(3) The provinces would be free to join Indian Union. If they would not join the Indian
Federation, they would formulate their own constitution which could have the same status
as the Union of India.

(4) Provisions would also be made for the protecting the racial and religious minorities.
(5) Until the new constitution could be framed, Britain would retain the actual control of
defence and military operations and the Governor-General was to continue with all his
power as before.

Failure of the Cripps Mission:-

Almost all the parties and sections of the people rejected the proposals on the following
grounds:-

(1) The Cripps Mission did not bring with it the promise of independence in the near future.

(2) The plan involved the partitioning the country.

(3) The League opposed the creation of a single union. The proposal did not accept Pakistan
specifically. They did not grant the right of self-determination to the Muslims.

(4) The Hindu Mahasabha rejected the proposals because it feared the partition of the
country.

(5) The people of Princely state had no right to send their representatives to the
constitution-making body.

(6) Gandhi rejected the proposals calling the Cripps offer for Dominion Status after the war
as ‘a post dated cheque on a crashing bank’.

(7) The Depressed classes, the Sikhs, the Indian Christians and the Anglo-Indians also
wanted more safeguards for their communities.

Japanese Threat:-

The war situation was discouraging in 1942. The Japanese Army had attacked Burma and
Marching towards Assam. Gandhiji observed, “The presence of British in India is an
invitation to Japan to invade India. Their withdrawal removes the bait”. The Indian leaders
were anxious to save their country from the Japanese invasions but their slavery was a
hindrance. Gandhiji and other leaders were convinced that this situation called for complete
independence from the British immediately. So they decided to launch a movement calling
upon the British to quit India.

Quit India Resolution:-

In 1942, the failure of the Cripps’ Mission left no further meeting ground between the
British govt. and the congress. Hence, the All India Congress Committee met at Gowalia
Tank Maidan in Bombay on 8th August 1942 and passed the Quit India resolution adopted at
Wardah in July 1942. The congress proposed to start a non-violent mass struggle under the
leadership of Gandhi, if this demand of immediate and complete independence was not
conceded by the British.
 Before the congress could start the movement, the govt. struck a severe blow. On the
morning of 9th August, all prominent leaders of the congress, including Gandhi, were
arrested and taken to unknown destinations and the congress was once again declared
illegal. The news of the arrests led to unprecedented popular outbursts throughout the
country. People attacked the symbols of British authorities like the police stations, post
offices, railway stations, cutting of telegraph wires, telephones, railway lines etc.

The Quit India Movement also termed as the August Revolution or the Revolt of 1942,
evoked varied trends and responses. British authority disappeared in parts of Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. In some areas
such as Balia in Eastern UP [The first parallel govt. established under the leadership of Chittu
Pande], Tamluk in Midnapur district of W.B. [Jatiya Sarkar] and Satara district of
Maharashtra [Prati Sarkar], the revolutionaries set up parallel govts

. Achyutrao Patwardhan, J.P.Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali [Heroine of
the 1942 movement and Grand old lady of the Independence movement], Sucheta Kripalini
[India’s First woman chief minister], Usha Mehetta were the prominent leaders of the
underground movement. They set up a Central Directorate at Mumbai. They kept the
movement alive despite the govt.s representative measures.

Governments Repressive Measures:-

The govt. resorted to severe measures to crush the 1942 movement. The press was
completely muzzled. The demonstrating crowds were machine gunned and even bombed
from the air. Prisoners were tortured. The Military took over many towns and cities. Nearly
ten thousand people were killed and 60,000 people were arrested by the end of 1942.
Rebellious villages had to pay huge sums as punitive fines. India had not witnessed such
intense repression since the first war of Independence, 1857.

Gandhiji was detained at the Agha Khan palace, Pune; the other leaders were sent to
jail in Ahmednagar fort. In the end the govt. succeeded in crushing the movement.

Impact of the Quit India Movement:-

The Quit India Movement made independence of India as the only agenda of the
national movement. It proved that there would be no retreat and future negotiations could
only be on the manner of the transfer of power. The movement had following impacts-

(1) It demonstrated the depth of the nationalist feeling in India and capacity of Indians for
struggle and sacrifice.

(2) It was evident that the British would no longer find it possible to rule India against the
wishes of the people.
(3) It was another mass uprising movement, people of all sections of society participated in
this movement.

Henceforth, the battle for the freedom of India was carried on beyond the country’s
frontiers. It was led by the INA and its chief S.C.Bose.