QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – History)

Context: The Prime Minister of India has paid tributes to all those who took part in the Quit India Movement under Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership.

Quit India Movement

• About: It was a significant civil disobedience movement launched by the Indian National Congress in August 1942.
• Leadership: Mahatma Gandhi, the movement demanded an immediate end to British rule in India.
• Quit India’ Slogan: The slogan ‘Quit India’ was coined by Yusuf Meherally, a socialist and trade unionist who also served as Mayor of Mumbai.
• Strategy: The movement aimed to create mass nonviolent resistance and disrupt British administration through strikes, protests, and non-cooperation.
• Impact: Although the movement faced repression and was eventually suppressed, it marked a turning point in the Indian independence struggle and further weakened the British hold on India.
• Cripps Mission Failure: After the British failed to secure Indian support for the British war effort with Cripps Mission, Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India movement.

• International Influence: Major 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.
• Conclusion of the Movement: The movement ended in 1945 with the release of jailed freedom fighters. Martyrs of this freedom movement include Mukunda Kakati, Matangini Hazra, Kanaklata Barua, Kushal Konwar, Bhogeswari Phukanani, and others.
• Commemoration: In 1992, the Reserve Bank of India issued a 1 rupee commemorative coin to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Quit India Movement.