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| QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT |
By ZindagiKeRang and hanxuaner
Banner by- _starflies_
The quit Indian Movement is one of the biggest movements of Indian History in the struggle for freedom. The movement was called for by the All India Congress Committee in the wake of the second world war.
Let's dive in and see what was this movement that had been possibly the first movement that showed the British government just how far Indians were willing to go for Independence.
The Indian government had asked for the Immediate Acknowledgement of Indian Independence by the British government in exchange for support of the Indian Army in the IInd world war.
The British government had then sent Cripps with a proposal of future promises which had been rejected by all the governmental Authorities of India.
The Cripps mission failed and Gandhi started the talk of Quit Indian movement in May 1942. It was on 8th August 1942 The AICC called for the Quit India Movement. The movement was supposed to be a Non-violent movement.
On the eve of the 8th August Gandhi had relayed a message to the people of India :
"Everyone is free to go the fullest length under Ahimisa to complete deadlock by strikes and other non-violent means. Satyagrahis must go out to die not to live. They must seek and face death. It is only when individuals go out to die that the nation will survive, Karenge Ya/Marange (do or die)."
This was the main Slogan of the movement "DO OR DIE"
The next day on 9th August all the prominent leaders of the AICC including Gandhi were arrested. With no leaders to lead the British thought, the movement would die own it's own. That was not the case.
The news of Gandhi's arrest along with other Congress leaders led to unprecedented popular outbursts in different parts of the country. There were hartals, demonstrations and processions in cities and towns. The Congress leadership gave the call, but it was the people who launched the Movement. Since all the recognised leaders-central, provincial or local-had been arrested, the young and more militant caders-particularly students with socialist leanings took over as leaders at local levels in their areas.
In its initial stages, the Movement was non-violent but as the Movement grew and the Repression of the British Government grew so did the violence. The Gandhian message of non-violent struggle was pushed into the background and people devised their own methods of struggle.
The violence included: attacks on government buildings, police stations and post offices, attacks on railway stations, and sabotaging rail lines, cutting off the telegraph wires, telephones and electric power lines, disrupting road traffic by destroying bridges, and workers going on strike, etc.
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In many areas, the government lost all control and the people established Swaraj.
We cite a few such cases:
In Maharashtra, a parallel government was established in Satara which continued to function for a long time.
In Bengal, Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar functioned for a long time in Midnapore district. This national government had various departments like Law and Order, Health, Education, Agriculture, etc., along with a postal system of its own and arbitration courts.
People established Swaraj in Talacher in Orissa.
The intensity of the Movement can be gauged from the following figures:
In U.P. 104 railway stations were attacked and damaged according to a government report. About 100 railway tracks were 'sabotaged' and the number in case of telephone and telegraph wires was 425. The number of post offices damaged was 119.
In Midnapore 43 government buildings were burnt.
In Bihar 72 police stations were attacked; 332 railway stations and 945 post offices damaged.
Throughout the country, there had been 664 bomb explosions.
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How did the government react to this?
The Government had geared all its forces to suppress the popular upsurge. Arrests, detentions, police firings, burning of Congress offices, etc. were the methods adopted by the Government.
By the end of 1942 in UP alone, 16,089 people were arrested.
All over Indian the arrested were close 100,00.
The Official numbers state that by 1943, 1060 people died in the police firing, but the numbers were much greater than those stated officially.
In Midnapore alone, the government burned down 31 congress camps and 164 private houses.
There were 74 cases of rape out of which 46 were committed by the police on a single day in a village on 9 January 1943.
There were countless Laticharges and public floggings.
Through such actions, the British government was able to establish themselves again. The quit movement India had failed.
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But the Movement had its Impact had been massive.
For the first time, the British government had seen the full extent of power that Indian Citizens possessed.
They had seen just how much India was willing to sacrifice for Independence.
They had seen that even without the proper leaders India will eventually take their freedom.
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Did you know ?
In 1992 the reserve bank of India issued a one rupee commemorative coin to mark the golden jubilee of quit India movement.
So, today on Quit India movement day let's remember the struggle of India.
Let's remember that If we set our mind to it we can achieve anything, we just need the will.
#ind_legion
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