Quit India Movement, History, Background, Impact, Reasons

Quit India Movement: The Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai, also called August Kranti Maidan, is where Mahatma Gandhi started the Quit India Movement. He and other leaders met here on August 8 and 9, 1942.  After the movement, the government declared Congress illegal and raided its offices nationwide. Leaders were arrested, causing chaos.

Quit India Movement Background

Quit India Movement Reasons

• After the Cripps mission failed, Gandhi proposed a resolution for British departure and a nonviolent protest against a potential Japanese invasion.
• The Congress Working Committee accepted this idea during a meeting in Wardha on July 14, 1942.
• The roots of this movement were not sudden but had been developing due to past events.
• World War 2 started in 1939, and Japan, an enemy of Britain, was approaching northeastern India.
• Britain's losses in Southeast Asia led to increased discontent among Indians, with rising food prices and scarcity.
• Britain threatened to use a "scorched earth policy" in Assam, Bengal, and Odisha if Japan approached, causing further distrust among Indians.
• When Britain withdrew from Southeast Asia without aiding locals against Japan, Indians lost faith in British protection.
• The failure of the Cripps Mission, which didn't offer solutions to India's issues, added to the dissatisfaction.
• Indian leaders wanted people to be prepared for a possible Japanese attack.
• Decades of mass protests under various Congress-affiliated groups laid the groundwork for the Quit India Movement, characterized by a more radical approach.

Quit India Movement Phases

• Before starting the Quit India movement, Congress slowly made plans and gained support for it. They did peaceful protests and changed how their organization worked.
• But the British government didn't want the movement to grow. The day after it began, they arrested almost all the top Congress leaders at once.
• The British made the Congress Working Committee, the All India Congress Committee, and the Provincial Congress Committees illegal using an old law called the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908.
• They also banned public meetings under Rule 56 of the Defence of India Rules.
• With the top leaders gone, younger and more militant members took charge.
• Aruna Asaf Ali, who wasn't well-known before, led the Congress committee session on August 9 and raised the flag.

The Quit India Movement had three phases:

• First Phase: It started with peaceful protests and nonviolent resistance, but the British quickly stopped them.
• Second Phase: Then, people in rural areas, like farmers, rebelled. They disrupted things like railroads and telegraph lines to make it hard for the British to control.
• Third Phase: In some places, people set up their own governments to rule during the rebellion. This happened in areas like Ballia, Tamluk, and Satara.

Quit India Movement Impact

• New leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, JP Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Usha Mehta emerged after the top Congress leaders were arrested.
• The authorities used violence to stop the Quit India Movement, leading to nearly 100,000 arrests, including women and children.
• The INC was declared illegal and banned by the government.
• Gandhi was released from house arrest in 1944 due to poor health.
• Loyalty to the government declined significantly, showing the depth of nationalism.
• Despite limitations, there were sporadic incidents of violence and damage to government property during the movement.
• The movement proved that governing India without the consent of its people was no longer feasible.
• It also pushed for the demand for complete and immediate independence.
• People showed remarkable bravery and continued the movement despite repression.

Quit India Movement Limitation

Quit India Movement Significance

Quit India Movement Facts

• The Quit India Movement, also called the India August Movement, was launched by the Indian National Congress (INC) led by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942.
• The movement's slogans were 'Quit India' or 'Bharat Chodo', and Gandhi urged people with the slogan 'Do or die'.
• It aimed to peacefully urge the British to grant India independence, following the Congress ideology of non-violence.
• The Quit India Resolution was passed by the Congress Working Committee on August 8, 1942, in Bombay, with Gandhi named as the leader.
• The resolution demanded an immediate end to British rule, formation of a provisional government, and civil disobedience against British rule.
• Gandhi issued instructions to different groups: government servants were to proclaim loyalty to the INC, soldiers were urged not to fire on compatriots, peasants were advised regarding rent payment, students were given the option to leave studies, and princes and people of princely states were called upon to support the movement.