Mohandas Gandhi (1869 - 1948)
March of the Quit India movement
August 8th 1942: Quit India Movement founded
On this day in 1942, Mohandas Gandhi launched the ‘Quit India’ movement at the All-India Congress Committee in Bombay. The movement intended to achieve Indian independence from British colonial rule through non-violent resistance. It was triggered by the British government entering the Second World War without consulting the Indian people, and reluctance to respond adequately to Indians’ demands, especially when Indian political parties rejected the Cripps Mission’s tentative path to greater self-determination. On the day the Quit India Movement was founded, Gandhi gave his famous ‘Do or Die’ speech, eloquently arguing for peaceful decolonisation and freedom for the Indian people. The ongoing Second World War distracted from the cause for independence, with the British authorities insisting they could do nothing until the war ended, and used the war to justify suppression of dissidents. In retaliation to their actions, Gandhi and other members of the Indian Congress Party like Jawaharlal Nehru were arrested by the British government and the Congress banned, prompting mass protests. In order to suppress the movement, the authorities arrested over 100,000 people and launched a campaign of violent repression. While the movement was ultimately suppressed, and was seen by many as a failure, the ultimate goal of Indian independence was realised in August 1947. Movements such as Quit India have often been credited with politicising the Indian people and setting the foundations for Indian democracy.
“In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established by non-violence, there will be equal freedom for all. Everybody will be his own master. It is to join a struggle for such democracy that I invite you today. Once you realize this you will forget the differences between the Hindus and Muslims, and think of yourselves as Indians only, engaged in the common struggle for independence”
- Gandhi’s ‘Do or Die’ speech, August 8th 1942
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