Back in Time is ED’s newspaper-like column that reports an incident from the past as though it happened just yesterday. It allows the readers to re-live it several years later, on the date it had occurred.
Today we take you back to 1942, when the Quit India Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi and the country went into a state of political frenzy.
August 8th, 1942: Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement at the Bombay Session of the All India Congress Committee. With the massive involvement of the British in the war, Gandhi called for a withdrawal of British forces from the country.
Following this, the masses gathered at the Gowalia Tank Maidan to hear Gandhi’s thought-provoking speech which moved them to action.
Gandhi’s call for ‘Do or Die’ seemed to have generated a frenzy among the masses.
Following the Mahatma’s speech yesterday, all top Congress leadership from Nehru to the man himself were arrested and put behind bars without trial.
With the political situation being highly volatile in the country, the threat of sporadic violence and riots is looming. With Bose’s departure and the alliance of the Muslim League with anti-Congress forces, the situation only seems to worsen.
With the British priorities lying with the war, the political frivolity in the country only seems to be getting more and more chaotic. India is currently communally charged and extensive methods to curb the violence need to be looked at.
Also Read: Back In Time: 12 Years Ago, Over 1200 People Died In The Mumbai Train Attacks
Post Scriptum: A few days after the Quit India Movement, the country went into a complete state of anarchy. Many other leaders were arrested and riots broke out across the country. Demonstrations and strikes erupted in every nook and corner.
Under rule 56 of the defense of India Rules, the assembly of Public meetings was prohibited. Additionally, it was found that the All India Congress Committee and its ally committees were declared as unlawful associations under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908.
Further examination of the occurrences during the movement has revealed a remarkable number of killings in the major provinces.
After speculations, it has been concluded that the destruction caused because of mob violence has been unprecedented where government offices, railways stations and post offices bore the brunt of the lash out. However, these attempts seem to have gone in vain.
With 100,000 people being imprisoned, the British imposing mass detentions and fines the demand for Quit India remained unsuccessful in its bid to alienate the British and faced a brutal defeat.
Sources: Wikipedia, Free Press Journal, Maps Of India
Image Sources: Google Images
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