80 years of Quit India Movement

• 80 years ago on August 9, 1942 the people of India launched the decisive final phase of the struggle for independence.

The Final Phase

• 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.
• Mahatma Gandhi, who had told the Raj to “Quit India” on the previous day (August 8) was already in jail along with the entire Congress leadership, so when August 9 dawned, the people were on their own — out on the street, driven by the Mahatma’s call of “Do or Die”.
• This truly people-led movement was eventually crushed violently by the British, but by then it was clear that nothing short of their final departure was acceptable to India’s masses.
• Reasons: While factors leading to such a movement had been building up, matters came to a head with the failure of the Cripps Mission.
• The failure of the Cripps Mission made Gandhi realise that freedom would come only if Indians fought tooth and nail for it.

Gandhi’s address: Do or Die

• On August 8, 1942, Gandhi addressed the people in the Gowalia Tank maidan in Bombay (Mumbai).
• “The mantra is: ‘Do or Die’. We shall either free India or die trying; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery,” Gandhi said.
• Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the Tricolour on the ground.
• The Quit India movement had been officially announced.

Prelims Take Away

• Quit India Movement
• Do or Die
• Aruna Asaf Ali
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Gowalia Tank maidan