Last week, as I was driving to work past Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai, I could not help but wonder what the gentlemen assembled there on August 8, 1942 would have made of some recent events. The call they had issued that day to the British Raj government to "Quit India" resulted five years later in the Indian nation-state, one whose edicts within its geographic borders would be absolute and unchallenged.
On the 83rd anniversary of the Quit India movement, Utkarsh Mishra recalls the conditions under which the Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi, launched the final struggle for independence.
'I remember the confusion over the slogan, 'Karenge Ya Marenge! (Do Or Die!)'.' 'I think this confusion arose because Gandhiji was arrested.' 'People used to wonder: What are we supposed to do?' 'How are we supposed to die?' 'How are we to fight the British?'
'These naval sailors should have been given due respect as freedom fighters.' 'February 18, 1946 should be as important as January 26 because that date changed everything.'
'It was a battle that took many forms, ranging from non-violent mass satyagrahas, mammoth public meetings, huge protest rallies in cities and towns to underground organisation of sabotage of communication and transport networks, an underground radio, illegal patrikas (newsletters) and the formation of parallel governments in Ballia, Midnapore and Satara.'
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