New Delhi: The Quit India Movement was one of the watershed moments in the history of our freedom struggle, with people across the length and breadth of the country venting their anger against the British Raj five years before we got Independence from colonial rule. Launched on August 8, 1942, at a time when World War II was going on by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress, the movement shook the very core of British rule in India.
The British Empire was one of the parties in World War II, and it got India involved as well since the country was its colony. However, the common people of the country and the Congress, the main political party crusading for freedom at that time were not consulted before making this decision. It infuriated Gandhi and the Congress, and on top of that, the failure of the Cripps Mission and the inability of the British government to present a timeline for giving India self-independence worsened the situation, leading to the launch of the Quit India Movement.
Famous quotes of Mahatma Gandhi during its launch
During the launch of the Quit India Movement on August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi said, “Ours is not a drive for power, but purely a non-violent fight for India’s independence,” and also emphasised the fact that a non-violent soldier will not fight for self but to bring the country’s freedom from the clutches of the colonial rule.
During the launch of the movement in Mumbai (then Bombay), Gandhi also expressed his views on cows. He said, “I am a worshipper of the cow. I believe the cow and myself to be the creation of the same God, and I am prepared to sacrifice my life in order to save the cow.” In the same meeting, Gandhi gave the now-famous exhortation Do or Die. He said, “Here is a Mantra, a short one that I give you. You may imprint it on your hearts and let every breath of yours give expression to it. The mantra is Do or Die. We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of slavery.”
Mahatma Gandhi also said that in world history, the democratic struggle for freedom in India India was the most genuine. He said, “I believe that in the history of the world, there has not been a more genuinely democratic struggle for freedom than ours. I read Carlyle’s French Resolution while I was in prison, and Pandit Jawaharlal told me something about the Russian Revolution. But it is my conviction that since these struggles were fought with the weapon of violence they failed to realize the democratic ideal. In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established by nonviolence, there will be equal freedom for all.”
This is why, Gandhi famously said, “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”.
Read more of Mahatma Gandhi’s speeches ahead of Quit India Movement launch here
Launched on August 8, 1942, at a time when World War II was going on by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress, the Quit India Movement shook the very core of British rule in India. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
