Indian history · Freedom struggle · Gandhian movements

The Quit India Movement (August 1942): Cripps Mission, the Quit India Resolution, "Do or Die", Underground Leaders, Parallel Governments and Significance — Exam Notes

In August 1942, with Japanese armies at India's eastern border, Gandhi demanded that the British "Quit India" and told the people to "do or die". The leaders were arrested within hours, but the movement spread through strikes, sabotage, underground radio and even parallel governments. This guide sets out the background, events and leaders of the last great mass movement before independence.

By PunjabExams Editorial Team · Updated 29 October 2026 · 7 min read · How we prepare guides

Background: India and the Second World War

The Cripps Mission (March 1942)

Under pressure from the USA and with Japan advancing, British PM Winston Churchill sent Sir Stafford Cripps, a Labour member of the War Cabinet, to India in March 1942.

Proposals:

• Dominion status after the war, with the right to leave the Commonwealth;
• a constitution-making body elected by provincial legislatures, with princely states' representatives nominated by rulers;
• any province unwilling to accept the new constitution could stay out (opening the way to partition);
• during the war, Britain would keep control of defence.

The Congress rejected the plan; Gandhi reportedly called it "a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank". The Muslim League also rejected it, as it did not concede Pakistan explicitly. Cripps left in April 1942.

Why Quit India?

• The failure of the Cripps Mission showed Britain's unwillingness to transfer power.
• Rising prices, shortages and wartime hardship.
• News of British evacuation of Malaya and Burma that left Indian settlers to their fate.
• Fear that a British retreat would leave India defenceless against Japan; Gandhi argued that a free India could better resist invasion.

The Congress Working Committee met at Wardha on 14 July 1942 and accepted the idea of a struggle.

The Quit India Resolution (8 August 1942)

The All India Congress Committee met at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay (now August Kranti Maidan), and passed the Quit India Resolution on 8 August 1942. The resolution was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru and seconded by Vallabhbhai Patel.

Gandhi's speech that night gave the mantra: "Do or Die" — "We shall either free India or die in the attempt."

He gave instructions to different groups:

• government servants should not resign but declare their allegiance to the Congress;
• soldiers should not fire on their own people;
• students could leave studies if they were sure;
• peasants should not pay revenue to unjust landlords;
• princes should accept the sovereignty of their people.

The term "Quit India" was coined by Yusuf Meherally, a socialist leader and mayor of Bombay.

Operation Zero Hour: the arrests

In the early hours of 9 August 1942, the government arrested Gandhi and the entire Congress leadership. Gandhi was held at the Aga Khan Palace, Pune, with Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai — both of whom died there (Desai in August 1942, Kasturba in February 1944). Most Working Committee members were held at Ahmednagar Fort, where Nehru wrote The Discovery of India. The Congress was declared an unlawful organisation.

The movement without leaders

Mass phase

• 9 August: Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank — she is called the "Grand Old Lady of the Independence Movement" (or "heroine of 1942").
• Strikes, hartals and demonstrations broke out in cities; students left colleges.
• In rural areas of Bihar, eastern UP, Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra and Karnataka, people attacked police stations, post offices, railway lines and telegraph wires — symbols of British authority.

Underground activity

Parallel governments

Repression

The government used police firing, aerial machine-gunning in Bihar and Bengal, collective fines and mass arrests. By the end of 1942, over 60,000 people had been arrested and around 1,000 killed according to official figures; nationalist estimates were much higher. The movement was largely suppressed by early 1943, though underground activity continued.

Who stayed away?

• The Muslim League opposed it and urged Muslims not to join.
• The Communist Party of India, after the German attack on the USSR (1941), supported the British war effort as a "people's war".
• The Hindu Mahasabha did not support it.
• B. R. Ambedkar was in the Viceroy's Executive Council at the time and did not join.
• Princely states were mostly quiet, though some people in them participated.

Gandhi's fast and release

In February 1943, Gandhi undertook a 21-day fast in detention to protest the government's blaming of the Congress for the violence. He was released on health grounds in May 1944.

Significance

1. It showed the depth of popular support for independence, even without leaders.
2. It made immediate independence the only acceptable demand; there could be no compromise short of freedom.
3. Women, students and peasants played a central role.
4. Combined with the INA trials and the RIN mutiny (1946), it convinced Britain that India could not be held much longer.
5. 9 August is observed as August Kranti Diwas.

Key points to remember

• Cripps Mission (March 1942) — "post-dated cheque".
• Quit India Resolution, 8 August 1942, Gowalia Tank, Bombay; "Do or Die".
• Slogan coined by Yusuf Meherally; arrests on 9 August (Operation Zero Hour).
• Aruna Asaf Ali, Usha Mehta (Congress Radio), JP, Lohia.
• Parallel governments: Ballia (Chittu Pandey), Tamluk (Jatiya Sarkar), Satara (Prati Sarkar).

Practice questions

1. Q1. The Quit India Resolution was passed on:

   • (a) 9 August 1942
   • (b) 8 August 1942
   • (c) 15 August 1942
   • (d) 14 July 1942
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) 8 August 1942 — The AICC passed it at Gowalia Tank, Bombay, on 8 August 1942.

2. Q2. Who coined the slogan 'Quit India'?

   • (a) Mahatma Gandhi
   • (b) Yusuf Meherally
   • (c) Jawaharlal Nehru
   • (d) Jayaprakash Narayan
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Yusuf Meherally — Yusuf Meherally, a socialist leader, coined the term.

3. Q3. Who ran the secret Congress Radio during the Quit India Movement?

   • (a) Aruna Asaf Ali
   • (b) Usha Mehta
   • (c) Sucheta Kripalani
   • (d) Sarojini Naidu
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Usha Mehta — Usha Mehta ran the underground radio from Bombay.

4. Q4. The longest-lasting parallel government during the Quit India Movement was at:

   • (a) Ballia
   • (b) Tamluk
   • (c) Satara
   • (d) Talcher
   Show answer

   Answer: (c) Satara — The Prati Sarkar of Satara lasted from 1943 to 1945.

5. Q5. Gandhi described the Cripps proposals as:

   • (a) A Himalayan blunder
   • (b) A post-dated cheque on a crashing bank
   • (c) A charter of slavery
   • (d) A machine with strong brakes and no engine
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) A post-dated cheque on a crashing bank — The remark is attributed to Gandhi.

6. Q6. During the Quit India Movement, Gandhi was detained at:

   • (a) Yerwada Jail
   • (b) Ahmednagar Fort
   • (c) Aga Khan Palace, Pune
   • (d) Sabarmati Ashram
   Show answer

   Answer: (c) Aga Khan Palace, Pune — Gandhi was held at the Aga Khan Palace, where Kasturba Gandhi died in 1944.

Frequently asked questions

Why is 9 August called August Kranti Diwas?

It marks the start of the Quit India Movement, when the leaders were arrested on 9 August 1942 and the people rose in protest.

Where did Nehru write The Discovery of India?

In Ahmednagar Fort, where he was imprisoned during the Quit India Movement.

Who was Matangini Hazra?

A 73-year-old Gandhian woman shot dead while leading a Quit India procession at Tamluk, Bengal, in September 1942.

Practise modern history MCQs All preparation guides