India will be celebrating the 77th anniversary of the Quit India Movement popularly as August Kranti. The Quit India Movement was launched during the World War – II at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942. The main aim of the August Kranti was to force Britishers to end their rule in India. Quit India Day 2019: Quick Facts About Mahatma Gandhi's 1942 Quit India Movement as India Celebrates its 77th Year.

The movement was launched after the Cripps Mission failed. On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi made a call to "Do or Die" in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the Indian Tricolour at the Maidan. Hours after Gandhi’s speech, almost the entire leadership of the Indian National Congress was imprisoned without trial. The Quit India Movement: The Beginning of The End Of 200 Years of British Rule in India.

Events which Led to The Movement:

In 1939, when British Governor-General of India, Lord Linlithgow, had brought India into the war without consultation Indian leaders. Though, the Muslim League supported the war, the Congress was divided on Britisher's decision. After facing criticism from the Indian Nationalists, in March 1942, the British government sent a delegation to India under Stafford Cripps, the Leader of the House of Commons which is known as the Cripps Mission.

The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the Indian National Congress a deal to obtain total co-operation during the war and in return for progressive devolution and distribution of power from the crown and the Viceroy to an elected Indian legislature. The talks failed as the British delegation’s offer of limited dominion-status was rejected by the Congress.

After the failure of the Cripps Mission, the Congress Working Committee meeting at Wardha on July 14, 1942, passed a resolution demanding complete independence from the British government. The draft of the resolution proposed massive civil disobedience in case the demand of full independence was rejected.

However, the movement faced opposition from several political outfits including the Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Communist party of India. Indian Princely states also favoured the Britishers. As most of the political outfits in India did not support the movement, it weakened the agitation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 09, 2019 07:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).