The Quit India Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August, 1942 at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Also known as the Bharat Chhodo Andolan, this movement was a mass civil disobedience that took place in the country.
•During the launch of the movement, the father of the nation delivered a speech amid a ‘do or die’ situation. He demanded that the British must leave India immediately or face dire consequences. As a part of this movement, a call for mass agitation was followed by violence that took over the country after which Indian National Congress leaders were arrested.
•Every year on 8 August, the anniversary of Quit India Movement is marked and observed by paying tribute to freedom fighters who without a doubt laid their lives for the country and its people.
Details on what happened during this movement:
•The main reason for the Quit India Movement to begin was because the Britishers were planning to drag the country into World War II without consent to fight on behalf of the United Kingdom (UK). During that time, more than 87,000 Indian soldiers were martyred in World War II including people from Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
•Also, the Cripps Mission which was led by Sir Stafford Cripps, a member of the War Cabinet in March 1942, made an attempt to secure India’s cooperation in World War II. Following this, Cripps was sent to India to discuss and support the British Government’s Draft Declaration with Indian leaders. Moreover, the declaration also granted India Dominion Status after the war. To which, Congress denied discussing any terms unless given total freedom.
• The meeting with Indian leaders, the sentiment of anti-British and full-independence gained popularity across India and its people. Also, during that time, the economy of India was in a bad state.
•Revolutionary protests were already taking place by renowned leaders in different parts of the country, after which it simply got channelized with the Quit India Movement that had a huge impact on all.
Response to Quit India Movement:-
1.The British government responded to the call of Gandhi by arresting all major Congress leaders the very next day. Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, etc. were all arrested. This left the movement in the hands of the younger leaders like Jay Prakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. New leaders like Aruna Asaf Ali emerged out of the vacuum of leadership.
2.Over 100000 people were arrested in connection with this movement. The government resorted to violence in order to quell the agitation. They were mass floggings and lathi charges. Even women and children were not spared. About 10000 people died in police firing in total.
3.There was no communal violence.
4. INC was banned. Its leaders were jailed for almost the whole of the war. Gandhi was released on health grounds in 1944.
5. people responded to Gandhi’s call in a major way. However, in the absence of leadership, there were stray incidences of violence and damage to government property. Many buildings were set on fire, electricity lines were cut and communication and transport lines were broken.
6.Some parties did not support the movement. There was opposition from the Muslim League, the Communist Party of India (the government revoked the ban on the party then) and the Hindu Mahasabha.
7.The League was not in favor of the British leaving India without partitioning the country first. In fact, Jinnah asked more Muslims to enlist in the army to fight the war.
8.The Communist party supported the war waged by the British since they were allied with the Soviet Union.
9.Subhash Chandra Bose, was by this time, organizing the Indian National Army and the Azad Hind government from outside the country.
10.C Rajagopalachari, resigned from the INC since he was not in favour of complete independence.
In general, the Indian bureaucracy did not support the Quit India Movement.
There were strikes and demonstrations all over the country. Despite the communist group’s lack of support to the movement, workers provided support by not working in the factories.
In some places, parallel governments were also set up. Example: Ballia, Tamluk, Satara.
The chief areas of the movement were UP Bihar, Maharashtra, Midnapore, and Karnataka. The movement lasted till 1944.