The Quit India Movement also known as the August Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British Rule of India. The Quit India Movement was officially launched by the Indian National Congress (INC) led by Mahatma Gandhi on 9 August 1942.
The Cripps Mission had failed, and on 8 August 1942, Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. The All-India Congress Committee launched a mass protest demanding what Gandhi called “An Orderly British Withdrawal” from India. Even though it was at war, the British were prepared to act. Almost the entire leadership of the Indian National Congress was imprisoned without trial within hours of Gandhi’s speech. Most spent the rest of the war in prison and out of contact with the masses.
The British had the support of the Viceroy’s Council (which had a majority of Indians), of the All India Muslim League, the princely states, the Indian Imperial Police, the British Indian Army, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Indian Civil Service. Many Indian businessmen profiting from heavy wartime spending did not support the Quit India Movement. Many students paid more attention to Subhas Chandra Bose, who was in exile and supporting the Axis Powers. The only outside support came from the Americans, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressured Prime Minister Winston Churchill to give in to some of the Indian demands. The Quit India campaign was effectively crushed. The British refused to grant immediate independence, saying it could happen only after the war had ended.
Sporadic small-scale violence took place around the country and the British arrested tens of thousands of leaders, keeping them imprisoned until 1945. In terms of immediate objectives, Quit India failed because of heavy-handed suppression, weak coordination and the lack of a clear-cut program of action. However, the British government realized that India was ungovernable in the long run due to the cost of World War II, and the question for postwar became how to exit gracefully and peacefully.
In 1992 Reserve Bank of India issued a 1 rupee commemorative coin to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Quit India Movement.
Quit India Movement Quotes, Tribute Messages & Images
“Do or Die” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Be Gentle truthful & Fearless” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Truth Alone will Endure, All the rest will be swept always in the tide of Time.”
अंग्रेज़ी शासन के विरुद्ध जन-जागृति लाने वाली #स्वतंत्रतासंग्राम की सुप्रसिद्ध “#अगस्तक्रांति” के स्मरण दिवस पर समस्त स्वतंत्रता-सैनानियों को मेरा कोटि-कोटि नमन
“A non-violent soldier of freedom will covet nothing for himself,
he fights only for the freedom of his country.”
“They started a March, for Truth, for peace. To bring us freedom, not just from the British but freedom of the thoughts.”
On this Quit India Movement Day, let’s remember the legends who fought selflessly for us and because of whom we can call this land our nation.
Tribute to all freedom fighters who laid down their lives on the occasion of Quit India Movement Day
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”- Mahatma Gandhi.
Tribute to all freedom fighters who lived for the nation !!
Today let us all remember and salute the patriots who have participated in Quit India Movement and achieved the dream of glorious and peaceful India
Quit India Movement Violence
According to John F. Riddick, from 9 August 1942 to 21 September 1942, the Quit India Movement:
Attacked 550 post offices, 250 railway stations, damaged many rail lines, destroyed 70 police stations, and burned or damaged 85 other government buildings. There were about 2,500 instances of telegraph wires being cut. The greatest level of violence occurred in Bihar. The Government of India deployed 57 battalions of British troops to restore order.
