Quit India Movement, INA & Road to Independence (1939–1947)

1. World War II and Indian Political Response

September 1939: Britain declared war on Germany — Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared India at war WITHOUT consulting INC. This was a major provocation.

• Congress response: INC Working Committee condemned the war declaration without consultation.
• End of Congress Ministries (October–November 1939): All 8 INC provincial governments resigned in protest. Muslim League observed "Deliverance Day" (December 22, 1939). Jinnah called the resignation a fortunate move.
• Muslim League strengthened: British deliberately encouraged the League as a counter to Congress.

August Offer (1940):

• Viceroy Linlithgow offered:
  • Dominion Status after the war.
  • Expansion of the Viceroy's Executive Council to include more Indians.
  • Setting up of a consultative War Committee.
  • Promised that minorities' views would be taken into account in any constitutional settlement.
• Congress rejected: Wanted full self-government NOW, not after the war.
• Muslim League rejected: Because it did not guarantee Pakistan.

Individual Satyagraha (October 1940 – December 1941):

• Congress launched a limited, non-violent protest when both the CDM and full mass movement seemed premature.
• Vinoba Bhave was the first individual satyagrahi.
• Jawaharlal Nehru was the second.
• Approximately 25,000 satyagrahis were eventually arrested. Movement called off when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (December 1941).

Cripps Mission (March–April 1942):

• Japan had swept across Southeast Asia; British desperately needed Indian cooperation. Churchill sent Sir Stafford Cripps to negotiate.
• Cripps Proposals:
  • Full Dominion Status after the war.
  • A Constituent Assembly to frame the constitution (with provinces and princely states).
  • Any province could opt out of the Indian Union (implicit acknowledgment of Pakistan).
  • In the meantime: India's defense under British control (Indian participation as advisor only).
• Congress rejected: Described it as a "post-dated cheque on a crashing bank." Main objection: Viceroy retained real power; Dominion Status was too vague; provinces could opt out (potentially enabling partition).
• Muslim League rejected: Because Dominion Status only, not explicit Pakistan.
• Gandhi's comment: "A post-dated cheque on a failing bank."
• Failure of Cripps Mission led directly to the Quit India Movement.

2. Quit India Movement (August 1942)

Launch:

• All-India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting at Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay (August 8, 1942).
• Gandhi gave the famous speech: "Do or Die (Karo ya Maro)".
• Passed the Quit India Resolution demanding immediate British withdrawal from India.

Operation Thunderbolt (Night of August 8–9, 1942):

• British pre-empted — arrested Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad, and virtually all senior Congress leaders before dawn on August 9.
• Gandhi taken to Aga Khan Palace (Pune) — where his wife Kasturba Gandhi died (February 22, 1944) and his secretary Mahadev Desai died (August 15, 1942).

Leaderless but Spontaneous:

• The movement continued without the top leaders.
• August 9, 1942 (August Kranti Diwas): Mass demonstrations, hartals, strikes across India.

Underground Leaders:

• Jayaprakash Narayan — escaped from Hazaribagh jail; organized underground movement.
• Ram Manohar Lohia — edited underground newspapers.
• Aruna Asaf Ali — on August 9, 1942, hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan Bombay in defiance (all major leaders had been arrested) — became an icon.
• Sucheta Kriplani, Usha Mehta (ran underground Congress Radio from Bombay).

Parallel Governments:

• Ballia (Eastern UP) — Chittu Pandey organized a parallel government for a month;
• Tamluk (Midnapore, Bengal) — Jatiya Sarkar (National Government) — lasted 2 years (April 1942–44).
• Contai (Midnapore, Bengal) — another parallel government.
• Satara (Maharashtra) — Prati Sarkar (counter-government) organized by Y.B. Chavan and Nana Patil — lasted until 1945.

British Repression:

• About 100,000 arrested; approximately 1,000+ killed in police/military firing.
• Army deployed; press censored.
• Villages bombed from the air (first time in India's history).
• Described as the most severe repression since 1857.

Significance:

• Mass character unprecedented: Students, women, peasants, workers — all participated.
• Demonstrated that British could NOT govern India without Indian consent.
• Established that India's independence would come regardless — even without a formal victory in negotiations.
• Shook the foundations of British rule more than any previous movement.

3. Indian National Army (INA) & Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose (1897–1945) — Netaji:

• Born January 23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa.
• Cambridge-educated; topped the ICS exam 1920 but resigned to join the freedom struggle.
• Leading figure in radical nationalism; twice elected INC President: 1938 (Haripura) and 1939 (Tripuri).
• At Tripuri, he was re-elected defeating Gandhi's candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya — but Gandhi treated the result as his own personal defeat, putting Bose in an impossible party position.
• Bose resigned Congress presidency (April 1939); founded the Forward Bloc (June 1939).

Bose's Escape and Foreign Alliances:

• January 17, 1941: Disguised as "Ziauddin" (a Muslim insurance agent), Bose escaped from house arrest in Calcutta — one of the most dramatic escapes in history.
• Traveled through Afghanistan and Soviet Union to reach Berlin (April 1941).
• Met Hitler; formed the Indian Legion from Indian POWs in Germany (~3,000 soldiers).
• February 1943: Transferred via German U-boat (submarine) to Japanese submarine near Madagascar — traveled to Tokyo and then Singapore.

Indian National Army (INA) / Azad Hind Fauj:

• The INA was originally organized by Mohan Singh in 1942 in Southeast Asia, from Indian POWs captured by Japan after the fall of Singapore.
• July 4, 1943: Bose took command of INA in Singapore.
• October 21, 1943: Bose proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind Government) — recognized by the Japanese-sphere states. He assumed the title Head of State and Supreme Commander of the INA.

INA Structure and "Rani of Jhansi" Regiment:

• INA had three brigades: Gandhi, Nehru, Azad.
• "Rani of Jhansi" Regiment — all-women regiment of the INA, commanded by Captain Lakshmi Sahgal (later Dr. Lakshmi Sahgal — ran to be India's President in 2002, supported by Left parties).
• Anthem of INA: "Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja"

INA Military Campaign:

• INA and Japanese forces together invaded Imphal and Kohima in northeast India (1944) — nearly broke through.
• Failed due to monsoon, supply problems, and Allied counteroffensive.
• Subhas Bose's death: Died in a plane crash in Taipei (Taiwan) on August 18, 1945 — circumstances disputed; some Indians refused to believe he was dead and several men claimed to be Bose for decades.

INA Trials (Red Fort Trials, 1945–46):

• British prosecuted three INA officers: General Shah Nawaz Khan, Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, and Colonel G.S. Dhillon (one Muslim, one Hindu, one Sikh — deliberately chosen by the INA to represent Indian unity).
• Nehru (himself a barrister), Bhulabhai Desai, and Tej Bahadur Sapru led the defense.
• The trials backfired completely — the accused became heroes; massive public protests.
• British public opinion turned against continued rule in India.
• Eventually all three were released (though cashiered from the army).

Impact of INA:

• Shook the loyalty of the Indian army — the British-Indian military machine was no longer completely reliable.
• Created unprecedented Hindu-Muslim unity in its ranks.
• The INA trials demonstrated that the British could no longer control India militarily.

4. Post-War Developments & Path to Independence

Post-WWII Context:

• Britain emerged from WWII economically devastated — no longer had the resources to maintain an empire.
• Labour Party won the British general elections (July 1945) under Clement Attlee — more sympathetic to Indian independence.
• Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (February 18–23, 1946): Indian naval ratings (sailors) at Bombay, Karachi, and other ports mutinied against British rule — the most significant indication that British military control was ending. The mutiny was put down but INC recognized its significance (Vallabhbhai Patel negotiated the sailors' surrender).

Provincial Elections (Winter 1945–46):

• Congress swept the general seats.
• Muslim League swept the Muslim reserved seats — emerged as the unquestioned voice of Muslim India.
• This made the partition scenario increasingly inevitable.

Cabinet Mission (March–June 1946):

• Three British Cabinet ministers: Lord Pethwick-Lawrence (Secretary of State), Sir Stafford Cripps, and A.V. Alexander.
• Cabinet Mission Plan (May 16, 1946):
  • Rejected Pakistan as a geographic entity.
  • Proposed three-tier federal structure: All-India Union, Groupings of Provinces (Group A: Hindu-majority provinces; Group B: Muslim-majority northwest provinces; Group C: Muslim-majority northeast — Bengal and Assam), and individual Provinces.
  • Constituent Assembly to draft the constitution.
  • Interim Government to be formed immediately.
• Congress accepted (with reservations about the Groups).
• Muslim League initially accepted (June 6, 1946), then rejected (July 29, 1946) — when Congress president Nehru indicated provinces could choose not to join Groups.
• Interim Government (September 2, 1946): Jawaharlal Nehru became Vice-President of the Governor-General's Council (effectively PM); Congress-dominated. Muslim League joined in October 1946 but continuously disrupted work.

Direct Action Day (August 16, 1946):

• Muslim League, having rejected the Cabinet Mission Plan, declared "Direct Action" — mass mobilization.
• Led to the Great Calcutta Killings (August 16–19, 1946) — communal riots; approximately 4,000 killed in Calcutta alone.
• Riots spread to Noakhali (October 1946), Bihar (October 1946), spread across North India.

Mountbatten Plan and Partition (June 3, 1947):

• Lord Mountbatten arrived as Viceroy March 22, 1947 (replacing Wavell).
• Concluded that partition was inevitable.
• June 3, 1947: Announced the Partition Plan (Mountbatten Plan):
  • India to be partitioned into two independent commonwealths: India and Pakistan.
  • Existing provincial boundaries to be used as a basis, with partition of Punjab and Bengal.
  • Princely states given the choice to join either dominion or remain independent (Sovereignty was restored to them on transfer of power).
  • Sir Cyril Radcliffe — headed the two Boundary Commissions (Punjab and Bengal) — drew the borders in 5 weeks while confined to his house.

Indian Independence Act, 1947:

• Passed by the British Parliament; received royal assent July 18, 1947.
• Pakistan became independent: August 14, 1947.
• India became independent: August 15, 1947 (midnight August 14–15).
• Both became Dominions (not complete republics yet) — Governor-General of India: Lord Mountbatten; of Pakistan: Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
• Jawaharlal Nehru's famous speech: "At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom." (Tryst with Destiny speech, August 14–15, 1947.)
• India became a Republic on January 26, 1950 with its own Constitution coming into force.