20. QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT (1942)

20. QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT (1942)

20.1 Launch

• Following the failure of the Cripps Mission and worsening war situation, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) met in Bombay and passed the "Quit India" Resolution on 8 August 1942, at the historic Gowalia Tank Maidan (later renamed August Kranti Maidan).
• Gandhi gave the clarion call "Do or Die" (Karo ya Maro), demanding immediate British withdrawal ("Quit India") and launching the largest, most intense mass movement since Non-Cooperation.
• Slogan of the movement: "Quit India" / "Bharat Chhodo."

20.2 Government Response and Underground Movement

• British responded with immediate, massive repression — Gandhi, Nehru, and virtually the entire top Congress leadership arrested within hours (on 9 August 1942, under "Operation Zero Hour"); Congress declared an unlawful organisation.
• With top leadership jailed, the movement was carried on largely by underground networks and younger/second-rung leaders:
  • Jayaprakash Narayan — key underground leader, escaped from Hazaribagh jail, organised resistance.
  • Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali (hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan on 9 August 1942, became an iconic underground leader — sometimes called "Grand Old Lady of the Independence Movement" for her later-life recognition), Achyut Patwardhan, Sucheta Kripalani, Biju Patnaik.
  • Underground radio transmitter ("Congress Radio") run by Usha Mehta from Bombay, broadcasting news/messages secretly.
• Widespread violence — attacks on government buildings, railway stations, police stations, telegraph lines cut, sabotage — despite Gandhi's call for non-violence, given the leadership vacuum, spontaneous and sometimes violent popular uprisings occurred, especially in Bihar, UP, and parts of Bengal, Maharashtra.

20.3 Parallel Governments ("Swaraj" Governments)

• In some areas, underground activists set up parallel/provisional national governments:
  • Ballia (UP) — Chittu Pandey declared a parallel government (August 1942), briefly.
  • Tamluk (Midnapore, Bengal) — the "Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar" (National Government), led by Satish Chandra Samanta, Sushila Devi, and others, functioned for nearly two years (1942–44), ran parallel administration, courts, and even a volunteer corps ("Vidyut Vahini").
  • Satara (Maharashtra) — the "Prati Sarkar" (parallel government) led by Y.B. Chavan, Nana Patil, functioned effectively for an extended period, running a virtually independent local administration.

20.4 Significance

• Though brutally suppressed by 1944, the Quit India Movement demonstrated the depth and breadth of popular resolve for independence, and convinced the British that prolonged rule was unsustainable after WWII — a key factor accelerating the transfer of power in 1947.
• Many historians consider it the final, decisive mass movement, marking the "beginning of the end" of British rule in India.

Key Facts / Quick Revision Points — Quit India Movement

• Quit India Resolution passed: 8 August 1942, AICC, Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay ("August Kranti Maidan").
• Gandhi's slogan: "Do or Die" (Karo ya Maro).
• Leaders arrested 9 August 1942 ("Operation Zero Hour").
• Underground leaders: Jayaprakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia, Usha Mehta (Congress Radio).
• Parallel governments: Ballia (Chittu Pandey), Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar (Satish Samanta), Satara Prati Sarkar (Nana Patil, Y.B. Chavan).