Question

The nine years of the Indian national struggle were marked by widespread agitation. In this context discuss:

The Quit India Movement of 1942.

Answer 1

1. The Quit India Movement was launched by the Indian National Congress on 8^th August, 1942 at the Bombay session in response to the failure of the Cripps Mission and the British refusal to grant immediate independence.
2. Mahatma Gandhi gave the powerful call of “Do or Die”, urging the British to quit India at once. 
3. On 9^th August, top Congress leaders were arrested, leaving the movement leaderless.
4. Despite this, the movement spread rapidly across the country with mass protests, strikes, sabotage of government offices, and railway disruptions.
5. It progressed in three phases, which are urban protests, rural uprisings with parallel governments (like in Tamluk, Ballia, and Satara), and finally, an underground resistance led by figures like Jaya Prakash Narayan and Usha Mehta.
6. Though the movement was suppressed by 1944, it marked a turning point in India’s freedom struggle.