Quit India Movement - Clarity Desk Hub IAS

This is one of the most dramatic and emotionally charged episodes of India’s freedom struggle, the Quit India Movement, also called August Kranti. Let’s understand and analyze the spirit behind each event, the ideological debates within Congress, the course of the movement, and the state’s brutal repression.

🌋 Background: Why India erupted in 1942

By mid-1942, India was at a boiling point. The events that had been simmering since 1939—war, repression, failed negotiations, and hunger—finally converged into an explosive mass revolt.

Let’s see the key reasons:

1. Failure of the Cripps Mission (March 1942)

Indians had hoped that Cripps’ visit would bring a real constitutional breakthrough.
Its failure convinced everyone that Britain had no intention of transferring power, not even during an existential war.

This disillusionment was the final spark.

2. Wartime Hardships

Rising prices, food shortages, and the scarcity of essential goods created misery across India.
Inflation and hoarding made life unbearable, particularly for peasants and workers.
It was clear to the masses that the British war effort was being funded by Indian suffering.

3. Military Defeats in the East

The British evacuation from Malaya and Burma in 1941–42 shattered their myth of invincibility.
Ordinary Indians began to ask: If Britain cannot defend itself, how can it rule India?

4. Japanese Advance Towards India

The Japanese had reached the borders of India by early 1942 after taking Burma.
For many Indians, this was the first time in history that foreign powers were knocking at India’s eastern gate.
There was widespread fear—but also a strange hope—that Japan’s entry might finally end British rule.

5. Gandhiji Turns Militant

By now, Gandhiji had lost patience with British duplicity. He was convinced that only a mass movement could force the British to leave.
He declared that if the Congress could not be persuaded, he would appeal directly to the people.
Gandhi’s tone was no longer one of pleading—it was one of defiance.

⚖️ Different opinions within Congress

Jawaharlal Nehru, at first, opposed the idea of a mass agitation during wartime because he feared it would weaken the global fight against fascism. But gradually, he realized that British hypocrisy was intolerable and joined Gandhi.
C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), however, believed that India should support Britain in the war and did not participate in the movement.

This shows how diverse and democratic the Congress was—internal debate was constant, but once a decision was made, everyone respected the collective will.

📜 The Quit India Resolution (May–August 1942)

Draft and Adoption

In May 1942, Gandhiji drafted a resolution demanding British withdrawal and calling for non-violent non-cooperation even if Japan invaded India.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) adopted it at Wardha in July 1942, and it was later ratified by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at Gowalia Tank Maidan (now August Kranti Maidan).

The Call for “Quit India”

The resolution demanded the immediate end of British rule in India.
It declared that non-violence would be the guiding principle.
It warned that if communication with the leadership broke down, every Indian should act according to his or her own conscience within the broad framework of non-violence.

This was a psychological shift — Gandhi was empowering the people themselves, decentralizing leadership.

Gandhi’s Electrifying Speech — “Do or Die”

On the night of 8 August 1942, Gandhi gave one of the most iconic speeches in Indian history:

“I want freedom immediately, this very night, before dawn if it can be had… I am not going to be satisfied with anything short of complete freedom… Here is a mantra, a short one: Do or Die.
We shall either free India or die in the attempt.”

This slogan — “Do or Die” — was not a call to violence, but to absolute determination.
It captured the psychological readiness for sacrifice that would make 1942 a watershed year.

📋 Gandhi’s Instructions

Gandhiji even left specific instructions for different sections of society, but they could not be formally issued because of immediate arrests:

Section	Gandhi’s Guidance
Government Servants	Don’t resign, but declare loyalty to Congress.
Soldiers	Stay at posts, but refuse to fire on Indians.
Princes	Accept people’s sovereignty; stop paying homage to Britain.
People of Princely States	Join the Indian nation; obey rulers only if they side with the people.
Students	Leave studies if confident and dedicated to the cause.
Peasants	Refuse to pay land revenue if courageous. Land belongs to those who till it. In Zamindari areas, pay rent only if landlord supports the nationalist cause.

These instructions showed how Gandhi had begun linking political independence with socio-economic transformation.

⚔️ The Movement Erupts (August 1942)

Before Congress could even begin, the British Government struck first.
In the early hours of 9 August 1942, Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, and all top leaders were arrested and the Congress declared illegal.
Gandhi was detained at Aga Khan Palace in Pune.

Aruna Asaf Ali’s Defiance

In their absence, Aruna Asaf Ali, a young socialist, hoisted the tricolour at the Gowalia Tank Maidan and declared the movement open.
The police fired on the crowd, triggering spontaneous nationwide protests.

🔥 People’s Reaction — A Leaderless Revolution

Without central leadership, the movement became spontaneous and decentralized:

Hartals, student strikes, and factory stoppages spread across towns and villages.
Demonstrations were lathi-charged and fired upon.
Youths and socialists took charge at local levels — people like Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, and Achyut Patwardhan guided underground resistance.

Initially, most protests were non-violent, but brutal repression provoked violent reactions.

💥 Violence And Symbolic Revolt

Angered by mass shootings and arrests, people began to attack symbols of British authority:

Police stations, post offices, railway tracks, government buildings.
Telegraph and communication lines were cut to paralyse the administration.
Many acts of violence were strategic disruptions, aimed at blocking troop movement, not wanton destruction.

Gandhi’s Reaction

Gandhi refused to condemn this violence, saying it was a reaction to the far greater violence of the state.
This marks a significant shift — Gandhi was evolving, recognizing that British oppression had reached unbearable limits.

🩸 British Repression — “The Severest Since 1857”

The British response was unprecedented in brutality:

Mass arrests, torture, and public shootings.
Machine-gunning and aerial bombing of demonstrators.
Press censorship and banning of nationalist publications.
Entire towns placed under military control.
Over 10,000 people were killed.
Congress offices were burnt down; civil liberties suspended.

The British had not used such repression since the Revolt of 1857 — hence, historians often call Quit India the second great rebellion.

🕵️‍♀️ Underground Activities: The Hidden War

When the open mass movement was crushed, an underground resistance began to sustain morale.

Key Underground Leaders

Achyut Patwardhan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Sucheta Kripalani, Biju Patnaik, and Usha Mehta.

What They Did

Sabotaged communication lines, derailed trains, cut telegraph and telephone wires.
Distributed nationalist pamphlets and maintained secret correspondence networks.
Most famously, they established the Secret Congress Radio, operated by Usha Mehta, broadcasting messages from “somewhere in India” on 42.34 metres wavelength.
Ram Manohar Lohia often addressed people through these secret transmissions, boosting morale.

Streams of the Underground Movement

Radical group (Jayaprakash Narayan): Organised guerrilla warfare near the India–Nepal border.
Centrist group (Aruna Asaf Ali, Congress Socialists): Mobilised volunteers for sabotage and coordination.
Gandhian group (Sucheta Kripalani): Focused on non-violent constructive work and underground education.

This clandestine network kept alive the spirit of defiance even when public agitation was impossible.

✊ In Gandhi’s words, the mantra “Do or Die” became not merely a slogan, but a psychological declaration that India’s freedom was now a matter of inevitability, not negotiation.

⚖️ Parallel Governments — “Swaraj In Action”

When British authority collapsed in several districts, local revolutionaries took over. These were not mere mobs — they tried to govern in the name of the people. They are often called “Prati Sarkars” or “National Governments.”

🌾 Major Examples:

Region	Name of Government	Leader(s)	Highlights
Ballia (Eastern U.P.)	Parallel Government	Chittu Pandey	Temporarily took over administration, released prisoners, and raised the tricolour. British rule was restored after a few days with army action.
Tamluk (Midnapore, Bengal)	Jatiya Sarkar	Local Congress and peasant leaders	Functioned for nearly two years, organized relief work, cyclones aid, and ran people’s courts.
Satara (Maharashtra)	Prati Sarkar	Nana Patil, Y. B. Chavan	Established people’s courts (Nyaydan Mandals), enforced prohibition, organized Gandhi marriages, encouraged education, libraries, and even local reforms.
Talcher (Orissa)	Chasi Mulia Raj (Rule of Peasants and Labourers)	Local peasants’ unions	Declared “Swaraj” and refused to pay taxes to the princely rulers.

🏛️ The Satara Prati Sarkar: A Model of People’s Self-Government

Established in 1943, led by Nana Patil and Y. B. Chavan (who later became Maharashtra’s Chief Minister).
It administered justice, ran people’s courts, enforced prohibition, and celebrated inter-caste Gandhi marriages.
Encouraged village libraries, adult education, and constructive work.
It functioned until 1946 elections — long after most of the country’s revolt had been suppressed.
Even though it faced British persecution and later some Congress disapproval, it remains an inspiring example of grassroots democracy during colonial rule.

👥 Participation — A Truly People’s Movement

Unlike earlier phases, Quit India saw the involvement of all social classes, cutting across boundaries of gender, age, and occupation.

Backbone of the Movement:

Students, workers, and peasants (both poor and rich) formed its core.
Women played a heroic role — especially Aruna Asaf Ali, Sucheta Kripalani, and Usha Mehta (who ran the Secret Congress Radio).

Other Notable Features:

Small zamindars joined the agitation.
Lower-level officials — in police, post offices, and administration — often helped the activists by sharing information, hiding fugitives, or giving funds.
Jail officials treated political prisoners kindly — showing how deeply British authority had eroded.
Muslim participation was low (because of the League’s separate politics), but many Muslims gave shelter to underground workers. Importantly, no communal riots occurred during the movement.
Upper classes and bureaucracy largely remained loyal to the British.
The Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha, and Communist Party of India (which supported the British due to the “People’s War” line after Germany’s attack on USSR) all stayed away or opposed the movement.
Rajaji, Ambedkar, and most princes and landlords supported the British war effort, not the movement.

🏛️ The Viceroy’s Executive Council (1941)

To pacify Indian opinion, Viceroy Linlithgow had earlier (July 22, 1941) expanded his Executive Council to include 8 Indian members out of 12 — the first time Indians outnumbered Britons.
However:

Defence, Home, and Finance remained firmly under British control.
A 30-member National Defence Council was also formed to coordinate the war effort — but it was merely advisory.

These gestures fooled no one; they were cosmetic reforms when the nation demanded complete freedom.

🕊️ End of the Movement — Its True Meaning

By late 1943–44, the British had crushed open resistance through severe repression.
Thousands were jailed, villages were burnt, and the underground networks dismantled.

Yet, despite being short-lived, the Quit India Movement revealed:

The depth of nationalist feeling — it had reached every village and class.
The capacity of ordinary people to organize and sacrifice without formal leadership.
And most importantly, that the British could no longer govern India without Indian consent.

The movement made it crystal clear:

“The question was no longer whether the British would leave, but when and how.”

📘 Historical Analysis — Sumit Sarkar’s Three Phases

Sumit Sarkar, a Marxist Historian in Modern India: 1885–1947, divided the movement into three distinct phases:

Phase 1 — Urban Revolt (Early August 1942)

Immediate response after arrests of leaders.
Characterized by strikes, hartals, and street protests in cities.
Led mainly by students and the urban middle class.
Quickly suppressed by police and military.

Phase 2 — Rural Insurgency (Mid-August to September 1942)

The struggle shifted to villages, especially in Bihar, Eastern U.P., Bengal, and Maharashtra.
Peasants attacked railways and government offices, disrupted communications, and even formed parallel governments.
The government’s massive repression pushed the movement underground.

Phase 3 — Underground Resistance (Late 1942–1944)

Led by educated youth and socialists like Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, and Usha Mehta.
Focused on sabotage, guerrilla activities, and propaganda through the Secret Congress Radio.
Kept the spirit alive even when public activity was impossible.

🤔 Was It Spontaneous or Organised?

Historians debate this often. The most balanced view is that it was both — a spontaneous outburst within an organised framework.

The INC leadership provided a broad moral and political direction: “British must quit, but non-violently.”
Implementation, however, was left to local initiative — a hallmark of Gandhian mass movements.
Even the AICC resolution had anticipated this, saying:

“A time may come when it may not be possible to issue instructions… when that happens, every man and woman must act within the four corners of the general instructions.”

So, while spontaneity gave it energy and unpredictability, Congress organisation gave it moral legitimacy.

🌄 Historical Significance

It was the final, united demand for immediate independence — no longer for “Dominion Status.”
After this, negotiations with Britain could only be about transfer of power, not whether independence would be granted.
It created a psychological point of no return — India’s freedom became inevitable.

🙏 Gandhi’s Fast — February 1943

When the British blamed Congress for the violence, Gandhi responded in his own moral language.

On 10 February 1943, Gandhi began a 21-day fast in detention at the Aga Khan Palace.
He fasted not only to protest British falsehoods, but as a penance for the violence that had occurred — though he firmly held that it was the government’s repression that provoked it.
The fast was an act of spiritual defiance, reaffirming his faith in non-violence and truth.

The fast deeply moved Indians, revived the moral authority of the Congress, and forced the British to recognize Gandhi’s unmatched power over the Indian conscience.

In the words of the historian Tara Chand:

“Quit India was not a failure — it was the sound of a nation breaking its shackles, even before the locks had been opened.