Quit India Movement

The Quit India Movement was a mass struggle launched by the Indian National Congress during the Second World War to demand an immediate end to British rule. Adopted on 8 August 1942, it followed the collapse of constitutional negotiations and the growing conviction that India could neither defend itself nor determine its war policy under colonial government.

Wartime political deadlock

The war sharpened the conflict between Britain's claim to defend democracy and its refusal to grant India self-government.

• In 1939, the Viceroy declared India a belligerent without consulting Indian representatives; the Congress ministries subsequently resigned.
• Congress opposed fascism, but insisted that meaningful Indian cooperation required freedom and a responsible national government.
• Limited British proposals, including the August Offer of 1940, failed to satisfy the demand for immediate transfer of effective power.

Immediate causes

The failure of the Cripps Mission in 1942 convinced Congress that Britain would not transfer real authority during the war.

• The Cripps proposals deferred dominion status until after the war and allowed provinces the option of not joining the proposed union.
• Japanese victories in Southeast Asia and the advance into Burma brought the war close to India and exposed British military vulnerability.
• Wartime inflation, shortages, requisitioning and administrative coercion intensified popular hardship and discontent.

Congress strategy and objectives

Congress concluded that continued colonial rule weakened India politically and obstructed effective popular mobilisation for defence.

• Gandhi argued that immediate British withdrawal could remove the colonial issue that encouraged Japanese aggression and allow Indians to defend their country as a free people.
• The movement sought to turn the wartime crisis into a decisive mass struggle for independence rather than wait for uncertain post-war promises.
• On 8 August 1942, the All India Congress Committee adopted the Quit India Resolution in Bombay, where Gandhi gave the call of Do or Die.