QUIT INDIA

MOVEMENT

INTRODUCTION

TheQuit India Movement(Bharat Chhodo

Andolanor theAugust Movement) was a
civil disobediencemovement inIndialaunched in
August 1942, in response toMahatma Gandhi's
call for the immediate independence of India. Its
aim was to bring the British government to the
negotiating table through determined, but
passive resistance.
Unilaterally and without consultation, the British
had entered India into World War II, arousing the
indignation of large numbers of Indian people. On
July 14, 1942, theIndian National Congress
passed a resolution demanding complete
independence fromBritainand massive civil
disobedience. On August 8, 1942, theQuit India

In a speech entitled, "Do or Die," given on

August 8, 1942, Gandhi urged the masses
to act as an independentnationand not to
follow the orders of theBritish. His call found
support among a large number of Indians,
including revolutionaries who were not
necessarily party to Gandhi's philosophy of
non-violence.
Almost the entire Congress leadership,
both at the national and local levels, was
put into confinement less than twenty-four
hours after Gandhi's speech, and the
greater number of the Congress leaders
spent the rest of the war in jail. Despite
lack of direct leadership, large-scale
protests and demonstrations were held all

The British responded with mass detentions, making over 100,000

arrests. Within a few months the Movement had died down, and when
the British granted independence on August 15, 1947, they cited
revolts and growing dissatisfaction among Royal Indian Armed Forces
during and after the war as the driving force behind Britain's decision
to leave India. However, the political experience gained by the Indian
people through activities such as the Quit India movement laid the
foundation for the strongest enduring tradition of democracy and
freedom in post-colonialAfricaand Asia.

World War II and

ndian Involvemen

In 1942, the British, unilaterally and

without consultation, entered India into
World War II. The response in India was
divided; some Indians wanted to support
the British during theBattle of Britain,
hoping for eventual independence through
this effort. Others were enraged by the
British disregard for Indian intelligence and
civil rights, and were unsympathetic to the
travails of the British people, which they
saw as rightful punishment for their

Cripps'
Mission

In March, 1942, faced with an increasingly dissatisfied

Indian sub-continent which participated in the war only
with reluctance; with deterioration in the war situation
in Europe andSouth East Asia; and with growing
dissatisfaction among Indian troops in Europe, and
among the civilian population in India, the British
government sent a delegation to India under Stafford
Cripps, in what came to be known as the Cripps'
Mission.
The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the
Indian National Congressto obtain total co-operation
during the war, in return for progressive devolution and
distribution of power from the Crown and the Viceroy to
an elected Indian legislature. However, the talks failed
to address the key demands of a time frame for selfgovernment, and of a clear definition of the powers to
be relinquished, essentially portraying an offer of

Suppression
of the
Movement

The British, already alarmed by the advance of

theJapanesearmy to the India/Burmaborder,
responded the next day by imprisoning Gandhi
at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. All the members
of the Congress Party's Working Committee
(national leadership) were arrested and
imprisoned at the Ahmednagar Fort.
Due to the arrest of major leaders, a young and
till then relatively unknown Aruna Asaf Ali
presided over the AICC session on August 9, 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-scale protests

The British swiftly responded with mass

detentions. A total of over 100,000 arrests were
made nationwide, mass fines were levied, and
demonstrators were subjected to public flogging[4]
. Hundreds of resisters and innocent people were
killed by police and army fire. Many national
leaders went underground and continued their
struggle by broadcasting messages over
clandestineradiostations, 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 toSouth AfricaorYemen, but such a step
was ultimately not taken, out of fear of

Contributions
Towards
Indian

The successes and failures of the Movement are

debated. Some historians claim that it failed.[By
March 1943, the movement had petered
out.Even the Congress, at the time saw it as
failure.Analysis of the campaign obtained by
Military Intelligence in 1943 came to the
conclusion that it had failed in its aim of
paralyzing the government.
It did, however, cause enough trouble and panic
among the War administration for General
Lockhart to describe India as an "occupied and
hostile country."However much it might have
disconcerted the Raj, the movement may be
deemed to have ultimately failed in its aim of

Within five months of its inception, the Movement

had almost come to a close, and was nowhere
near achieving its grandiose aim of toppling the
Raj. The primary underlying reason, it appears,
was the loyalty of the army, even in places where
the local and native police came out in
sympathy.This certainly was also the view of the
British Prime Minister, Clement Atlee, at the time
of transfer of power. Atlee deemed the
contribution of"Quit India"movement as
minimal, ascribing greater importance to the
revolts and growing dissatisfaction among Royal
Indian Armed Forces during and after the war as
the driving force behind Britain's decision to leave
India

THANK
YOU
-Palak Diwan (1602)
BA(H) Economics