Quit India Movement
Source: Deccan Chronicle
GS I: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues
Overview
- News in Brief
- Quit India Movement An Overview
- Personalities of the Quit India Movement
- Impact of Quit India Movement
Why in the News?
PM Modi Pays Tributes to Participants of Quit India Movement
News in Brief
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to people who took part in the Quit India movement
- This is the 83rd anniversary of its start, saying their courage lit a spark of patriotism that united countless people in the quest for freedom.
- On this day 80 years ago on August 9, 1942 the people of India launched the decisive final phase of the struggle for independence.
- It was a mass upsurge against colonial rule on a scale not seen earlier, and it sent out the unmistakable message that the sun was about to set on the British Empire in India.
Quit India Movement: An Overview
- The failure of the Cripps Mission and the fear of an impending Japanese invasion of India led Mahatma Gandhi to begin his campaign for the British to quit India.
- Mahatma Gandhi believed that an interim government could be formed only after the British left India and the Hindu-Muslim problem was sorted out.
- The All India Congress Committee met at Bombay on 8 August 1942 and passed the famous Quit India Resolution.
- On the same day, Gandhi gave his call of ‘do or die’.
- On 8th and 9th August 1942, the government arrested all the prominent leaders of the Congress.
- For once, this pre-planned government action left the Indian people without leadership.
- Mahatma Gandhi was kept in prison at Poona.
- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad, and other leaders were imprisoned in the Ahmednagar Fort.
Personalities of the Quit India Movement
- Once Mahatma Gandhi was arrested, leadership was provided by Ram Manohar Lohia, Achyuta and S.M. Joshi.
- The role of Jayaprakash Narain in this movement was important.
- A large number of students also left their schools and colleges to join the movement.
- The youth of the nation also participated in this movement with patriotism.
Impact of Quit India Movement
- Strikes, demonstrations and public meetings were organised in various towns and cities.
- Slowly, the movement reached the rural areas.
- In 1943, as the movement gained further momentum, there were armed attacks on government buildings in Madras and Bengal.
- In 1944, Mahatma Gandhi was released from jail.
- Quit India Movement was the final attempt for the country’s freedom.
- The British Government ordered for 538 rounds of firing.
- At least 7,000 people were killed.
- Nearly 60,229 persons were jailed.
- This movement paved the way for India’s freedom.
- It aroused among Indians the feelings of bravery, enthusiasm and total sacrifice.
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