Chapter - 3
Quit India Movement in
Andhra
Chapter- III
QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT IN ANDHRA
The British who came to India as traders became masters. The British
authority was challenged in a big way in 1857. With the establishment of the Indian
National Congress in 1885, the Indian leaders began to submit memorandums to the
British for the betterment of the people. Withthe advent of Mahatma Gandhi on to the
national scene, he started the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920 and the Civil
Disobedience Movement and the Salt Satyagraha and the Dandi March. In 1942,
Gandhi gave a call for the British to ‘Quit India’.
As a result of the Second World War, India was dragged into the war. The
Indian National Congress demanded independent status for India. There is no
response from the British. In protest, the Congress ministries resigned in the
Provinces during October-November 1939. The resignation of the Congress ministries
was celebrated as a Day of Deliverance and thanks giving by Jinnah on 22 December
1939.
The British who wanted to obtain the cooperation of the Indians in their war
efforts promised to devise the frame work for the new constitution. On 8th August
1940 Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy made a declaration, known as the ‘August
Declaration’. Even though, the Muslim League welcomed the August Declaration,
there was no response from the Congress.
After the rejection of the August Declaration, Gandhi launched Individual
Satyagraha. Vinobha Bhave led the individual Satyagraha on 17th October 1940. The
number of arrests reached 600.1The movement was suspended for a brief period (1712-1940to 05-01-1941) when the Satyagraha resumed on 5th January 1941, 20,000
Satyagrahis were arrested. As the Congress was hesitant to embarrass the British, the
movement was not launched on a wider scale.
The Allied power situation became grave in Asia and Europe during 1940-41.
Germany violated Non-aggression Pact andlaunched an attack on USSR on 22nd June
1941. In Europe, the German forces achieved victories. The Japanese swept South
1
. Tarachand, History of the Freedom Movement in India, Vols I- IV, Publications Division,
Government of India, New Delhi, 2005, p.218
90
East Asia. The negotiations between the US and Japan failed in April 1941. Pearl
Harbour was bombed by Japan on 7th December 1941. Thus, the US entered the war
on Allied side.
Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister said on 8th September 1941 that
the right of the people to Charter the form of government as per the Atlantic Charter
did not apply to India. It frustrated the Indians. Added to this, news reached India
about the British reverses in the war. By 1942, Rangoon and Singapore fell into the
Japanese hands.The Britishfelt that the unfriendly India would cause great damage to
its war efforts. It compelled the British to try to pacify the Indians. The British to
win the friendship of Indian’s in its war efforts, as a gesture of good will and
reconciliation, several national leaders including Nehru and Azad were released. The
efforts of Chiang Kai Shek, President of China and F.D. Roosevelt, President of
America compelled Churchill to announce the appointment of Cripps Mission to offer
the Dominion Status for the Indians after the war.
Cripp’s Mission, 1942
Sir Stafford Cripps, leader of the House of the Commons, said that the
Government is concerned with the “whole question of the unity and strength of India
in the face of the dangers which now threaten that country and that they very fully
realise that it is important that this country should do its utmost in the present
circumstances to make a full contribution towards that unity”.2
In India, on 21st February 1942, the third session of the Non-party leaders
Conference was held. Dr. Sapru spoke on the unequivocal terms on the political
situation in India.
As promised by Mr.Churchill earliest grant of Dominion Status to India, to
negotiate with Indians on the subject proposed “to send a member of the War Cabinet
to India” for wider consultation and come to a final solution.
Premier’s Statement in the House of Commons on 11th March 1942
Sir Stafford Cripps said that the British Government “have decided to lay
down in precise and clear terms the steps which they propose shall be taken for the
earliest possible realization of Self-Government in India. The object in the creation of
2
. S.R. Bakshi, Advanced History of Modern India, Vol. V, 1929-1947, Anmol Publication Pvt Ltd,
New Delhi, 1995, p. 372
91
a new Indian Union which shall constitute a Dominion associated with the United
Kingdom and other Dominion by a common allegiance to the Crown but equal to
them in every respect, in no way subordinate in any aspect of its domestic and
external affairs.
“His Majesty’s Government therefore make the following declaration:
a) Immediately upon cessation of hostilities, steps shall be taken to set up in
India in manner described hereafter and elected body charged with the task of
framing a new Constitution for India.
b) Provision shall be made, as set out below, for participation of Indian States in
the Constitution making Body.
c) His Majesty’s Government undertake to accept and implement forthwith the
constitution so framed subject only to (i) The right of any province of British
India that is not prepared to accept the new constitution to retain its present
constitutional position, provision being made for its subsequent accession if it
so decides. (ii) The signing of a treaty which shall be negotiated between His
Majesty’s Government and Constitution-making Body.
d) The Constitution making Body shall be composed as follows unless the
leaders of Indian opinion in the principal communities agree upon some other
form before the end of hostilities. The new body shall be in number about1/10
of the number of the Electoral College.
e) During the critical period which now faces India and until the new constitution
can be framed His Majesty’s Government must inevitably bear the
responsibility for and retain the control and direction of the Defence of India
as part of their world war effort but the task of organising to the full the
military moral and material resources of India must be theresponsibility of the
Government of India with the co-operation of the peoples of India. His
Majesty’s Government desire and invite the immediate and effective
participation of the leaders of the principal sections of the Indian people in the
counsels of their country, of the Commonwealth and of the United Nations.
Thus, they will be enabled to give their active and constructive help in the
discharge of a task which is vital and essential for the future freedom of India”
92
Sir Stafford Cripps who was familiar with Indian affairs was sent to India. He
reached Delhi on 23rd March 1942. Maulana Azad, President of the INC met Cripps
and expressed mixed feelings about the British Proposals. Mahatma Gandhi also met
Cripps for the sake of courtesy.
Cripps proposals were published 30th April
1942.3There was the mention of Dominion Status to India.
Sir Stafford intimated to the President on the 30th April that “the Viceroy
would be prepared to consult with Indian leaders on this basis to see whether it were
possible to designate an Indian to some office connected with the Government of
India’s defence responsibilities without in any way impugning upon the functions and
duties of the Commander-in-Chief either in his capacity as Supreme Commander of
the Armed Forces in India or as the Member of the Executive Council in charge of
Defence.”
In the meantime, Col.Johnson arrived in India on 3rd April and it was reliably
learnt in Delhi that his very first words at the aerodrome, on alighting from his plane
were “What about Cripps?” This presents Col. Johnson’s arrival in India in a different
flight to that sought to be associated by Sir Stafford when later he stated in England
that the Colonel’s arrival in India at the head of a Trade Mission was an accidental
coincidence.
“After a brief study of the British Government offer, Gandhi was reported to
have said to Sir Stafford” Why did you come if this is what you have to offer? If this
is your entire proposal to India, I would advise you to take the next plane home”.
The Sikhs in the North West India were opposed to the creation of Pakistan. It
may cut the Sikhs from the All India Union. Even Ambala Division was sacrificed as
per that Muslim League Lahore Resolution of March 1940, there were be left with 88
Million non-Muslims in the Punjab and the communal problem would remain much
as it was, while the Sikh problem would be an additional complication.4
Cripps Press Interview
Q. Will the Indian Union be entitled to disown its allegiance to the Crown?
A. Yes. In order that there shall be no possibility of doubt, we have inserted in the last
sentence of paragraph (c) (ii) but (the proposed treaty) will not impose any
3
. S.R. Bakshi, n. 2, p. 379
. S.R. Bakshi, n. 2, p. 389
4
93
restriction on the power of the Indian Union to decide in future its relationship to
other member States of the British Commonwealth.”
The Union would be
completely free to remain within or to go without the Commonwealth.
Q. Will the Indian Union have the right to enter into a treaty with any other nation in
the world?
A. Yes
Q. Can the Union join any contiguous foreign country?
A. There is nothing to prevent it.
Cripps 4th Press Interview:
Q. Exactly at what stage does the British Government propose to leave to country?
A. As soon as the Constitution making Body has framed a new constitution to take the
place of the lod, the British government undertake to accept and implement the
new one and the moment the new constitution comes into operation, the
changeover takes place.
Q. What happens to the Indian Army?
A. So far as the New India is concerned, they can have the whole of the Indian Army
and everything else. As soon as the constitution is settled, everything will be
transferred to India. This last sentence is interpreted by Prof. Coupland “to cover
the services at present controlled by the Secretary of State.”
Exit Cripps
A stranger and inscrutable incident took place during the progress of Cripps
Mission in India, on 8th April in Delhi. Col. Johnson’s formula was being considered
and amended by the Working Committee. There was not the faintest suspicion that
things were on the brink of failure. On the other hand the atmosphere was charged
with a fair measure of optimism. While this was so in India, what happened in New
York?” Referring in his speech at New York Town Hall on the night of the 7th April
to the possibility, that India’s spokesmen might reject Cripps proposals the British
Ambassador in America.
The Cripps proposals which had been made at the very last hour and because
of the compulsion of the events were rejected by the Congress Working Committee
94
by a resolution passed on 11th April 1942. Gandhi dismissed the proposals outright as
a ‘Post-dated Cheque on a falling bank’.
The Hindu Maha Sabha opposed to the proposals because the unity of the
country will be threatened to divide. Ambedkar feared that the Harijans may be
placed at the mercy of caste Hindus.5
The failure of the Cripps Mission made it clear that England was unwilling to
offer an honourable settlement and a real constitutional advance during the war, and
that she was determined to continue leaders like Gandhi and Nehru who did not want
to do anything to hamper the anti-fascist war effort of the Allies were convinced by
the empty gesture of the ‘Cripps Offer’, that any further silence would be tantamount
to accepting the right of the British to decide India’s fate without any reference to the
wishes of her people. Though Gandhi like Nehru had been very clear that the antifascist struggle, especially that of the Russians and Chinese people, by the spring of
1942 he was becoming increasingly convinced of the inevitability of a struggle. A
fortnight after Cripps departure, Gandhi drafted a resolution for the Congress
Working Committee calling for England’s withdrawal and the adoption of non-violent
non-cooperation against any Japanese invasion.
Apart from British obduracy, there were other factors that made a struggle
both inevitable and necessary. The advance of the Japanese forces compelled the
government to take some precautionary measures, which added to the misery of the
people. One of them was the scorched earth policy. Thousands were driven out of
their homes on the sea coast in Bengal and Orissa and deprived of shelter and
livelihood and the forced collection of war contribution. The wartime shortages,
rising prices and black-marketing led to the mounting of popular discontent.
The growing feeling of an imminent British collapse encouraged popular
willingness to give expression to this discontent. The news of Allied set-backs and
British withdrawals from South East Asia and Burma and the trains bringing wounded
soldiers from Assam and Burma border confirmed this feeling. Besides, the manner
of the British evacuation from Malaya and Burma convinced the people of the selfish
nature of the imperialists. It was common knowledge that the nature of the
imperialists. It was common knowledge that the British had evacuated the white
5
. M. Able, Glimpses of Indian National Movement , ICFAI books, Hyderabad, 2005, p.237
95
residents and generally left the natives were to their fate. Letters from Indians in
South East Asia to their relatives in India were full of graphic accounts of British
betrayal and their being left at the mercy of the Japanese. The popular faith in the
stability of British rule had reached such a low that there was a run on the banks and
people withdrew deposits from post-office savings accounts and started hoarding
gold, silver and coins. Gandhi was convinced that the time was ripe for struggle.
However, the question arose as to whether the launching of a struggle against the
British when England was waging a war against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy
would be consistent with the past policy of the Congress. At the instance of Nehru,
the Congress had denounced Fascism before the war. After the commencement of the
Second World War, Nehru felt that the victory of Fascism would be a tragedy for the
world. He would have been happy if the Indian people could fight in support of the
Allied powers. However, he knew that unless India was free, Indians could not fight a
war in defence of freedom. Under these circumstances, before the Congress launched
the all India movement in 1942 there were considerable doubts and questions among
the Congressmen, especially in the minds of Nehru and Azad. They doubted the
ethics of launching a civil disobedience movement at that juncture.
By the middle of 1942 Gandhi had definitely decided upon starting a civil
disobedience movement against the British. When this question was discussed at the
Congress Working Committee in July 1942, Azad, as the President of the Congress
opposed Gandhi. Later Azad claimed, ‘among the members of the Working
Committee only Jawaharlal supported me, and then only up to a point. The other
members would not oppose Gandhi even when they were not fully convinced’ on the
question whether a civil disobedience movement should be started during the war, the
differences between Gandhi and Azad were so great that Gandhi even wrote to Azad
asking him to resign. Later Gandhi said that he had written the letter in haste and that
he wanted to withdraw it. Gandhi, however, held firm to his idea of starting a civil
disobedience movement during the war.
Though Gandhi had been airing his views regarding the impeding struggle, it
was the Working Committee of the Congress at its meeting at Wardha on 14th July
1942, accepted the idea of the struggle. The Congress Working Committee, passed a
long resolution, generally referred to as the ‘Quit India’ resolution. It renewed the
demand that ‘the British rule in India must end immediately’, and reiterated the view
96
that the freedom of India was ‘necessary not only in the interest of India but also for
the safety of the world and for the ending of Nazism, Fascism, Militarism and other
forms of imperialism and the aggression of one nation over another’.
The Quit India resolution emphasized that the continuance of the British rule
in India was good neither for India nor ‘for the success of the United Nations’. It
proposed the establishment of a provisional government representing all important
sections of the people if India was to ‘resist aggression’. This provisional government
would evolve a scheme to convene a Constituent Assembly and representatives of free
India and of Great Britain ‘will confer together for the adjustment of future relations
and for the cooperation of the two countries as allies in the common task of meeting
aggression’.
The resolution further stated that, in making the proposal for the
withdrawal of British rule from India, the Congress has no desire whatsoever to
embarrass Great Britain or the Allied Power in their prosecution of the war in any
ways to encourage aggression on India or increased pressure on China by the
Japanese or any other power associated with the Axis Group. The Congress pleaded
that its ‘very reasonable’ and ‘just proposal’ be accepted by Britain ‘not only in the
interest of India but also that of Britain and of the cause of freedom to which United
Nations proclaimed their adherence.
In case the British did not agree to
withdrawfromIndia, it was resolved that the Congress would be forced ‘to utilize all
the non-violence as part of its policy, for the vindication of political rights and
liberty’, ‘a mass struggle on non-violent lines under the inevitable leadership of
Gandhi would be started’.
Instructions for workers and Talking Points
1. Congressmen should be made to realise that the proposed movement is likely to
be of a far intenser and more widespread character than any of the previous civil
disobedience movements. Gandhiji has made this clear and he envisages it as
something relatively short but very intense. No such intense movement can be
carried on the same high pitch for very long. Hence the first two or three
months are the most important.6
2. It should be equally realised that the reactions on the part of the Government
will also be far more intense and brutal than in the past. Everything that we
6
. S.K. Sharma, Quit India Movement: A Challenge to the British Power in India, Mittal Publication,
New Delhi, 2009, p. 115
97
have known in 1930-32 will be repeated and much more. So we must be
mentally and otherwise prepared for this, in so far as we can be.
3. The movement may be precipitated by Government action, mass arrests etc.
Therefore we have not a day to lose and must keep in readiness for whatever
may happen and not be taken aback by it.
4. In order to bring out the different character of the new movement Gandhiji has
stated that it is not his purpose to fill the jails. Jail- going has become too
common and stale. Of course, Government may arrest our people and put them
in prison. But formal Satyagraha for jail will not be our method.
5. All this indicates that the conflict will be severe. The range of it is likely to
extend to all sections of the people. There will be no limitations or restrictions
and all will be invited to join in their different capacities. The exact form this
may take will be determined by Gandhiji later, and will also necessarily depend
on Government action against Congress. But it has already been made clear by
Gandhiji that he contemplates non-payment of taxes, hartals and strikes
(resignation from Government service), salt manufacture, refusal to obey
Government orders etc., etc.
6. We must await instructions from him and the A.I.C.C. before taking any steps.
There must be discipline in our ranks and we must not precipitate matters. But,
at the same time, we must prepare our workers immediately for the trials to
come.
All the initial steps, organisational and others should be taken and
completed before the A.I.C.C. meets in Bombay.
7. In the nature of things, it will be difficult to have much, if any, central control,
all –India or provincial. Instructions will, of course, be issued from time to
time. But essential work will have to be decentralised and carried on through
local initiative. Within the broad limits of the instructions issued at the
beginning by the Working Committee, the A.I.C.C.and Gandhiji each local
centre and even individual must continue to function, even though further
instructions do not reach it or him. But always it must be remembered that nonviolence has to be the basic feature of all activities.
8. With this general picture in mind and with the full realisation that the movement
is not going to be just a jail-filling one but will demand the highest sacrifice and
98
courage, we must proceed to tune up our workers and organisation, so that we
may be able to respond effectively to the call whenever it comes. Realising also
that the time is very short and the call may come unawares or be precipitated by
government action.
9. The meetings to be held all over the U.P. on August1st are no part of the
satyagraha movement and should not be treated as such. They are meant to
awaken the popular mind to the critical position today and to prepare it for the
proposed movement. It is not desirable to invite conflict on that day or
unnecessary arrests. If any such meeting is prohibited, there should be no
disobedience of the order,but private meetings should be organised to pass the
resolution which has been recommended. It is further suggested that processions
be not taken out that day. Speeches almost inevitably leading to arrest should be
avoided and there shouldnot be too many speakers.7
10. Congress offices and committees should forthwith make their internal
arrangements for the future. The sanchalak will be chiefly responsible. Where
there are separate city and district sanchalaks, they should confer together in
order to evolve a joint plan of action.
11. Proper arrangements should be made in each district for the maintenance of
communications both within the district and with such provincial centres as may
be functioning and the broadcasting of news. Sanchalaks are authorised to raise
funds for their work.
12. All local disputes must forthwith be ended. Complaints over petty matters
should not be sent to the P.C.S. Even those against whom disciplinary action has
been taken are free to join the movement.
13. It is likely that the first step in the movement will be an all-India hartal,
something of the nature of the famous hartal of 6th April 1919. This will be
fixed either by the A.I.C.C. or by Gandhiji. Every effort must be made to make
this hartal a success in bazaars, rural areas, towns, factories, etc. This must be
done despite official opposition. It is important that this hartal be made a
success.
7
. S.K. Sharma, n. 6, p. 117
99
14. In view of suppression of news by the censors or Government officials, and
difficulties in sending communications, workers should remain wide awake to
find out what is happening. In particular they should read Harijan to understand
the nature of the movement, and they should act in accordance with the
directions that reach them.
15. In the course of the movement there should not be any destruction of property,
such as trees, etc. (which were cut down preciously as part of forest satyagraha).
16. Fines should not be paid and no facilities should be given to the people to realise
them by attaching property etc.8
17. In districts there should be several centres of activity. Usually it will be found
convenient to have centres in each tahsil area.
18. All workers must realise that our movement can only be carried on, on the basis
of self-sufficiency in each area. There must be no dependence on other areas,
though every effort should be made to maintain contacts with them. In the
ultimate analysis every worker may have to be a self-sufficient entity carrying
on the programme to the best of his ability.
19. While jail-going is not going to be our main programme on no account must
arrest or jail be avoided. Such avoidance has a very bad effect on mass
psychology. We must always face the opponent, not run away.
20. The time factor must always be borne in mind and the urgent demands of the
situation. The P.C.C. office is taking immediate organisational and other steps
to help and maintain contacts with districts and local areas. Local workers must
do likewise so that everything should be in readiness before the A.I.C.C. meets.
This Confidential Note was prepared by Jawaharlal Nehru as President of the
UPPCC, Allahabadon 24th July 1942.9
Quit India Resolution
The A.I.C.C. met on 7th and 8th of August 1942 at Gowalia Tank maidan in
Bombay to put its seal of approval to the ‘Quit India Resolution’, in the midst of the
utmost tension alike on part of its members and of the public.The House looked not
8
. S.K. Sharma, n. 6, p. 117
. P.N. Chopra, Quit India Movement British Secret Report, Thomson Press (India) Limited, Faridabad,
Haryana, 1976, Pp.304-305
9
100
like a Committee meeting but like a miniature Congress with an audience wellnightwenty thousand in numbers. Bombay knows no niggardliness and has perhaps
made the best reputation for hospitality and minute attention to details. The feeling of
anticipation and expectation ran so high that in the open session, when the leaders
made their speeches before the many thousands who had collected to hear them, there
was pin-drop silence. The A.I.C.C. resolution was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru and
seconded by Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel and was passed with all but 13 out of 250
voting against (twelve of whom were Communists and the thirteenth, the father of a
Communist). The Communists had changed their attitude towards the War and called
it the ‘Peoples’ War after Germany’s invasion of Russia.
After the passage of the resolution Gandhi made an inspiring speech. He
spoke for 140 minutes, first in Hindustani and then in English. He first made it clear
that “Here is a Mantra- a short one – that I give you. You may imprint it on your
hearts and let every breath of yours give expression to it. The Mantra is: We shall Do
or Die. We shall either free India, or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the
perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Congressman or woman will join the struggle
with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and
slavery. Let that be your pledge. Keep jails out of your consideration. If the
Government keeps me free, I will spare you the trouble of filling the jails. I will not
put on the Government the strain of maintaining a large number of prisoners at a time
when it is in trouble.Let every man and woman live every moment of his or her life
hereafter in the consciousness that he or she eats or lives for achieving freedom and
will die, if need be, to attain that goal. Take a pledge, with God and you will no
longer rest till freedom is achieved, and will be prepared to lay down your lives in the
attempt to achieve it. He who loses his life will gain it; he who will seek to save it
shall lose it. Freedom is not for the coward or fainthearted.”10
Azad’s Speech
The Congress President explained that the “Quit India” demand did not mean
the physical removal of all the Britishers from India. It only meant the transfer of
political power to Indian hands. After the demand had been originally made by
Mahatma Gandhi, both Pandit Nehru and himself had gone to Wardha to discuss the
matter with Mahatma Gandhi who made it clear to them that it only meant the transfer
of power.
10
. P.N. Chopra, n. 9, p. 360
101
Maulana Azad said that events had reached such a stage that there was no time
either forthreats or for promises. They must face facts reasonably and act instantly.
The Congress did not want promises nor did they want to make promises. The need
of the hour was action and action right now on the part of the Congress as well as the
British Government. Let the British Government sign India’s independence and
simultaneously “we will sign our agreement to the United Nations to fight along with
them against all aggressors”. He could say with all the emphases at his command and
speaking with the responsibility attached to the Congress presidentship that they
would be prepared to sign such an agreement. But Azad intentions of the British
Government honest? Were they willing to grant the independence of India?
Concluding, Mr.Azad said the zero hour was fast approaching. They were making a
final appeal to the British and to the United Nations and it was the duty of the latter to
accept it if their eyes were not blind and their ears were not deaf.11
Gandhiji’s Address: “Last Fight of My Life”
After Maulana Azad, Mahatma Gandhi addressed the A.I.C.C. He said:
“Before you discuss the resolution let me place before you one or two things. I want
you to understand two things very clearly and to consider them from the same point of
view from which I am placing them before you. I ask you to consider from my point
of view because if you approve of it, you will be enjoined to carry out all I say. It will
be a great responsibility. There are people who ask me whether I am the same man
that I was in 1920 or whether there has been any change in me. You are right in
asking that question. I may tell you that I am the same man today that I was in 1920.
The only difference is that I am much stronger in certain things now than I was in
1920….
….. Referring to the Princes, Mahatma Gandhi stated: “If we carry on this
struggle in the way I want it, the Princes will get more through it than they can ever
expect. I have met some Princes and they have stated their helplessness by saying
that we are more free than they are, because they can be removed by the Paramount
Power….
Never believe- as I have never believed-that the British are going to fail. I
don’tconsider them to be a nation of cowards. I know that before they accept defeat
11
. P.N. Chopra, n. 9, p. 362
102
every soul in Britain will be sacrificed. They may be defeated and they may leave
you just as they left the people of Burma, Malaya and other places, with the idea of
recapturing lost ground whenthey can. That may be their military strategy. But
supposing they leave us, what happens to us? In that case, Japan will come here. The
coming in of Japan will mean the end of China and perhaps of Russia too.
In these matters, Pandit Nehru is my Guru. I don’t want to be the instrument
of Russia’s defeat nor of China’s. if that happens, I would hate myself.
Continuing, Mahatma Gandhi said:
“You know I like to go at rapid speed. But it may be that I am not going as
rapidly as you want me to. Sardar Patel is reported to have said that the campaign
may be over in a week.I do not want to be in a hurry. If it ends in a week, it will be
miracle, and of this happens, it would mean the melting of the British heart. It may be
that wisdom will dawn on the British and they will understand it to be wrong for them
to Putin Jail the very people who want to fight for them. It may be that a change may
come in Mr. Jinnah’s mind too. After all, he will think that those who are fighting are
the sons of the soil and if he sits quiet, of what use would Pakistan be for him? Nonviolence is a weapon which can help everyone. I know we have not done much by
way of non-violence and, therefore, if such a change comes about, I will take it as the
result of our labours during the last 22 years, and that God has helped us to achieve it.
“When I raised the slogan ‘Quit India’, people in India who werethen feeling
despondent felt that I had placed before them a new thing. If you want real freedom
you will have to come together and such coming together will create a true
democracy, a democracy the like of which has not been so far witnessed nor have
there been any attempts made for such a type of true democracy. I have read a good
deal about the French Revolution. Carlyle’s works I read while in jail. I have great
admiration for the French people. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has told me all about the
Russian revolution. But I hold that though theirs was a fight for the people, it was not
a fightfor the free democracy which I envisage. My democracy means that everyone
is his own master. I have read sufficient history, and I have not seen such an
experiment on such a large scale for the establishment f democracy by non-violence.
Once you understand these things, you will forget the differences between Hindus and
Muslims.12
12
. P.N. Chopra, n. 9, p. 363
103
Nehru’s speech: International background of Resolution
Pandit Nehru who moved the resolution said that the conception of the
resolution was not narrow nationalism but it had an international background. The
arguments for the resolution had already been sufficiently in the public mind. He was
sure that the bona fides of the resolution had been fully understood by all friends. The
resolution was in no sense a challenge to anyone. If the British Government accepted
the proposal it would change the position for the better, both internal and
international, from every point of view. The position of China would be improved.
He was convinced that whatever change might come about in India it must be for the
better. The A.I.C.C. knew that Mahatma Gandhi had agreed that British and other
foreign armed forces stationed in India might continue. This he maintained was in
order not to allow the Japanese to come in ….
The system is a rotten one. I do not want to associate myself with the creaking,
shaking machinery that the Government of India is. As for the so-called national war
front, there is neither the nation, nor the war nor any front in it. All that this front is
now doing is opposing the Congress. I certainly do not mind that.
The whole
Government of India is built that way. The only occasion when it does function
effectively and efficiently is when overnight it starts rounding up large members of
people.
One of these days such efficient functioning will reappear against
Congressmen.
Earlier in his speech, Pandit Nehru emphasised that the movement
contemplated was not for merelyachieving national ends but for world freedom. The
Congress was plunging into a stormy ocean and it would emerge either with a free
India or go down. Unlike in the past it was not going to be a movement for a few
days, suspend it and talk it over. It was going to be a fight to the finish. The
Congress had now burnt its boats and was to embark on a desperate campaign. He
could never persuade himself to work with a Government which had neither vision
nor intelligence. Nor would he remain a passive spectator of the great happenings
that were taking place in the world. It appeared to him, perhaps, he would live in
eternal opposition to the Axis Powers. He repudiated the suggestion that the Congress
and Mahatma Gandhi wee bargaining and haggling.
In moments of excitement
people were prone to say certain things but they should not be dubbed as bargaining.
PanditNehru asked how by granting India’s independence, the war efforts of the
104
United Nations would be hampered or that chaos and anarchy would follow in India.
The resolution, he asserted, did not give out even one-tenth of the real feelings of
Indians towards the British Government.13
“It is going to be a fight to finish”:Jawaharlal Nehru
This speech was delivered by Jawaharlal Nehru at AICC Session, Bombay on
8th August 1942.
“I have poverty. My grievance against the British is that they have made
Indians miserable, poverty striken wrecks of humanity. We are now taking a step
from which there will be no going back. If there is goodwill on the other side, then
everything would be all right and the whole course of the War and future of the world
would be changed.”
“It is not a narrow nationalist resolution. I am proud of Indian nationalism
because it is broad based and has an international background.”
“The movement contemplated is not for merely achieving national ends but
for achieving world freedom. The Congress is plunging into a stormy ocean and it
would emerge either with a free India or go down. Unlike in the past, it is not going
to be a movement for a few days, to be suspended and talked over. It is going to be a
fight to the finish. The Congress has not burn its boats and is about to embark on a
desperate campaign. I can never persuade myself to work with a government which
has neither vision nor intelligence. Now would I remain a passive spectator of the
great happenings that are taking place in the world. It appears to me, perhaps I would
live in eternal opposition to the Axis powers. I repudiate the suggestion that the
Congress and Mahatma Gandhi are bargaining and haggling.
In moment of
excitement people are prone to say certain things, but this should not be dubbed a
bargaining. How, by granting India’s independence, would the ware efforts of the
United Nations be hampered or how would chaos and anarchy follow in India? The
resolution does not give out even one tenth of the real feelings of the Indians towards
the British Government.14
“I beg everybody to consider this resolution in this spirit. Whether there are
internal perils or external perils, after all, if the Japanese reach this country, you and I
13
14
. P.N. Chopra, n. 9, p. 364
. S. K. Sharma, n. 6, p. 142
105
will suffer and not the people in London and Washington. You and I will have to die,
face the situation, may have to face untold miseries and sufferings-we will have to
face all that. People talk to usfrom Washington, New York and various other places.
You know what Japan is. We know what subjection is and we know it better than
American and Englishmen. We have had it for about two hundred years. We have
come to the decision that it is better to throw off the fetters into the fire and come out
as a free nation than be reduced to ashes.”15
Patel’s Speech
Seconding the resolution, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel declared that if America
and England were still thinking that they could fight their enemies from India without
the co-operation of forty millions of people, they were foolish. It must dawn on the
people that this war was a people’s war and they should fight for their country and
their freedom. As long as this feeling was non-existent no amount of propaganda
through the newspapers and the radio could rouse the people to a supreme effort.
For three years the Congress was scrupulously adhering to their policy of nonembarrassment and did nothing, even under provocation. But this attitude was not
appreciated and Britain thought that conditions would remain the same throughout.
Now the enemy was at their door and they couldnot risk being idle longer.
At the same time Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel warned his audience against going
to the other extreme and putting any faith in the professions of Japan about their good
intention regarding India. From her acts in Manchuria, China and elsewhere, it was
clear that Japan was following the same ambition of Empire building as England and
even outdoing them in it. India could have no trust in Japanese declarations. He
warned the people that the fight was before them was going to be a tough one and as
Mahatma Gandhi had emphasised should be short and swift. Without wishing to go
into details, he told them that it would not be this time of the jail-going type of
movement. This time it would not happen that they would remain in jail for a year or
two and cease to think about what was happening outside. Their object was to free
India before the Japs came here and to fight them if they did. The movement would
not be confined to congressmen only; it would take in all men who called themselves
15
. S. K. Sharma, n. 6, p. 144
106
Indians. It would also include all items of non-violent resistance already sanctioned
by the Congress and probably some more.16
Chief Servant of Nation: How Gandhi will lead National Struggle, Speech before
A.I.C.C. Session
Addressing the A.I.C.C. this evening for two hours Mahatma Gandhi said:
“I take up my task of leading you in this struggle not as your commander, not as your
controller, but as the humble servant of you all; and he who serves best becomes the
chief among them. I am the chief servant of the nation; that is how I look at it.”
Headded: “I want to shar all the shocks that you have to face.”
Gandhiji referred to the interpretations put in foreign countries on his
utterances during the last three weeks, and said: “I know that in the course of the last
few weeks I have forfeited the privilege of the friendship and the trust of many of my
friends in India and abroad, so much so that they now have begun some to doubt my
wisdom and some even to doubt my honesty. My wisdom is not such a treasure
which I cannot afford to lose, but honesty is a precious treasure to me.”
Urging all his critics to search their hearts before accusing him of dishonesty
Gandhiji said: “I want Englishmen and all the United Nations to examine their hearts
and search their hearts: what crime has the Congress committed in demanding
independence today? Is it wrong to do? Is it right to distrust that organisation? I hope
Englishmen won’t do it. I hope that it won’t be done by the President of the United
States and by the Chinese Generalissimo, Marshal Chiang Kai-shek who is still
fighting desperate battles with Japan for his existence.”
I Will Go Ahead
Gandhiji asserted that “even if all the United Nations opposed me, even if the
whole of India tried to persuade me that I am wrong, I will go ahead. Not for India’s
sake alone but for the sake of the world.
Concluding Gandhiji said: “I have pledged the Congress and the Congress will
do or die”.17
16
17
. P.N. Chopra, n. 9, p. 364
.P.N. Chopra, Quit India Movement British Secret Report, Thomson Press (India) Limited, Faridabad,
Haryana, 1976, p. 365
107
Communist Amendments
Dr. Ashroff (Communist) in an amendment sought to give the right as free and
equal member in the future federal constitution for India to secede from the future
federation of India to every federating unit comprising more or less homogeneous
sections of the Indian people and having a contiguous territory as their homeland.
Dr. Ashroff urged that the Congress as the biggest political organisation
should turn its attention to organise its masses into a disciplined nation. He was
happy to note that some of the leaders’ speeches yesterday had cleared many of the
doubts that existed in the public regarding the congress attitude and plan of action.
Till yesterday, people were under the impression that the Congress held out for
complete withdrawal of the British; now they were assured that the British forces
could stay behind and give any help they wanted to.
Mr. Sajjad Zaheer (communist), in an amendment, urged the Congress to take
the initiative in building a united national front of parties and sections of people who
wanted to secure India’simmediate freedom and who were prepared to participate in
or support the formation of a provisional national Government and undertake the
organisation of armed as well as non-violent defence against Fascist aggressors in
close cooperation with the United Nations and their armies.
Mr. Sajjad Zaheer pointed out that the Congress President had made it clear
that the Congress was anxious to join in the fight of the Allied nations against Fascist
nations, if only it was given an opportunity to do so freely. He was happy to declare
that so far as this question was concerned, the Communists were one with the
Congress.
Mr. S.C. Sardesai(Communist) in a lengthy amendment, stressed the need in
this hour of grave emergency of all in national unity for the purpose of forging mass
sanctions t secure the installations of a provisionalNational Government and asked the
Committee to make an earnest effort to effect agreement and join front with the
Muslim League.18
Muslims not to lag behind
Maulana Nuruddin Behari, supporting the resolution, said that as soldiers of
the battle for India’s freedom they had no right to question the strategy of their
18
. Ibid, p. 366
108
General. When the call came it was their duty to follow. The Communists had
confused the issue of Hindu-Muslim unity with India’s right for freedom. The HinduMuslim problem was different. The proposed struggle was forIndia’s freedom and
the speaker had no doubt that the Muslims would not lag behind in this struggle for
freedom. Communists were keeping out of it, not because of the Hindu-Muslim
question but because they did not want to join it; they were making an excuse of the
Hindu-Muslim question. He assured Mahatma Gandhi that thousands of Muslims
would join the movement.
At this stage, Maulana Azad, the Congress President, announced that the
session would conclude tonight and called upon Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to wind up
the debate.
Gandhiji’s Two Hour Speech
Mahatma Gandhi then addressed the House for two hours in English and
Hindustani. Gandhiji said that he would make every effort to see the Viceroy before
starting the struggle. Mahatma Gandhi called on all Indians to begin to feel that they
are free men. Gandhiji asked Indian Princes to act as trustees of their people and not
be autocrats. The time for them to change had come. He asked them to act wisely
while he was alive. When he was gone, Pandit Nehru would have no patience with
them.19
Concluding Scenes: Resolution to be sent to United Nations
Winding up the proceedings of the A.I.C.C., Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the
Congress President, stated that in the present world conflagration India could side
with only one set of combatants. But for India to effectively participate with the right
side in this war it was necessary to properly mobilise the people of India. The present
conditions did not help towards enthusing the people towards all –out effort, which
would most certainly change the trend of the war. However, much one wished, it
would not be possible to enthuse Indians to participate in this war till the right thing
was done by India, namely-till India was free.
With a view that the position of the Congress and that of India should not be
misunderstood, the Congress President had issued a number of statements since the
19
. P.N. Chopra, n. 9, p. 368
109
passing of the Wardha resolutions. He was making the United Nations to understand
that the present move of the Congress was to enable India to take her rightful place in
this world conflagration. Though the resolution had been passed, he was for trying to
bring about an understanding till the very last minute. He would try to do everything
possible to make the British and the other United Nations. He was convinced that
such efforts should be made and that such efforts instead of weakening the Congress
case would strengthen the hands of the Congress. If in spite of such efforts the United
Nations did not respond the loss would be theirs and not of India.
Maulana Azad announced that he was sending copies of the resolution to
President Roosevelt, to China and to the Russian Ambassador in London. If all their
efforts failed, then it was for Indians to take a determined step forward, with the
determination that in this struggle they would venture ahead, no matter what
happened to them, whether they sink or swim, whether they win or lose.20
The Mass Upsurge
On that very day (8th August 1942), the Government issued an Extraordinary
Gazette Notification in order to justify its planned action against the Congress. The
notification described the Congress as “a totalitarian organisation”, and blamed its
leaders for consistently impeding the growth of Indian nationhood.21 It was apparent
that the Government was about to follow a policy of repression and terror to liquidate
the whole Congress organization.
Rumours had reached Gandhi in Bombay that arrests of the Congress leaders
were imminent. He was least bothered. On 9th August, he woke up as usual at four in
the morning for his prayers. He then told his private secretary, Mahadeva Desai:
“After my last night’s speech, they will never arrest me”. He was about to proceed
with detention orders for him.22
Onthe early hours of 9th August, the Bombay Government rounded up Gandhi
and all the members of the Congress High Command present in Bombay. This was
soon followed by the arrest of “A” and “B” category of Congress leaders in various
20
. P.N. Chopra, n. 9, p. 369
. The Gazette of India, Extraordinary, 8th August 1942( Home Department, Government of India,
New Delhi).
22
. D.G. Tendulkar, Mahatma, Vol.6, Bombay, 1953, p.216
21
110
provinces.23 Hundreds of Congress leaders were clamped down. Overnight they
became the security prisoners of the Government of India. Gandhi and his personal
staff and close companions, such as his wife, Private Secretary, Sarojini Naidu, Meera
Ben and Sushila Nayar were confined according to plan at the Aga Khan’s Palace,
Poona. Members of the Congress Working Committee were lodged in the
Ahmednagar Fort. The only exception was Rajendra Prasad who, because of ill
health, had not been able to go to Bombay. He, too, was arrested the same day in
Patna, and lodged in the local prison. The Government did not disclose the
whereabouts of the Congress leaders. They were not permitted to communicate even
with their close relatives because “the preventive character of the Government action
would be entirely defeated if such contacts were allowed.”24 The Government also
declared AICC, CWC and the Provincial Congress Committees as unlawful
associations by exercising the power under section 16 of the Indian Criminal Law
Amendment Act, 1908.25
Serious disturbances immediately broke out all over India. Bombay, being the
venue of the AICC session and also of the arrest of most of the top Congress leaders,
naturally exploded first. On the very first day (9th August 1942), crowds started
throwing stones and soda water bottles at trains, buses and cars and at the police.
Some buses were also burnt. Post offices were attacked and looted. The police
opened fire on sixteen occasions, killing eight personsand injuring forty-four. Similar
incidents occurred in Poona, Ahmedabad and in some suburban areas of Bombay. All
these places observed hartals. Mills and factories were closed. The following day
(10th August 1942), the crowds became more determined. On that day, police opened
fire on twenty-six occasions, killing sixteen and injuring fifty-seven. In many places,
crowds wanted to take out processions and made determined attempts at dislocating
tram, bus and railway services. Europeans and government officials were molested.
Even Indians in European dresses were not spared. Telephone and telegraph lines
were cut, municipal and government properties were damaged. Barricades were put
23
. Arunchandra Bhuyan, The Quit India Movement: The Second World War and Indian Nationalism,
Manas Publications, New Delhi, 1975, p. 65
24
. Home Political File No. 3/21/42, National Archives of India, New Delhi, Richard Tottenham,
Additional Home Secretary, had, However,
25
. The Government of India, Gazette Notification, 9th August 1942, Home Department, New Delhi.
111
on the road.26 From 11th August disturbances spread to nearby areas like Kaira,
Thana, Broach, Panch Mahals, Godhra, Surat, Ahmednagar, East Khandesh, Nasik,
Satara, Belgaum, Dharwar, Ratnagiri, West Khandesh, Sholapur, Bijapur, Kanara and
Kolaba. Incidents that occurred in these areas were almost identical in nature and
character. Whatever the Bombay crowd did on 9th and 10th August was followed
avidly by the people of these places. On 12th August, the crowd at Chinchani forced
policemen to burn their uniforms and join the procession. There was an exodus of
6,000 to 8,000 mill workers from Ahmedabad. In many mills, workers themselves
struck work.In Broach, the Gopal Mills had to be closed down because spinners
refused to work. At Chaklashi (Kaira) a mob attacked the police station. Another
mob attempted to burn down the Government dispensary and the post office at
Chinchani (Thana). The Kacheri at Palghar was attacked by a mob. One police SubInspector was assaulted at Rakata. In all these places, police had to open fire to
disperse the crowd. Attendance of students in the schools and colleges in different
districts was very poor. It ranged between ten to thirty percent. The news of the
death of Mahadeva Desai on 15th August caused repercussion in Bombay,
Ahmedabad, Poona, and Kaira on 16th August. In Ahmedabad police broke off the
condolence meeting.
Some students from Baroda came and distributed “Azad”
leaflets to the people of Kaira. Police followed this batch of students and fired on
them at Adas Station, killing four of them and injuring six.
In other parts of the province the movement was still in full swing. At
Chikhodra when police resorted to lathi charge, two hundred Patidar women rushed
out armed with “dharias”, “Vansis”, and sticks. Only with the help of the local people
could the police pacify them. On 3rd September, at Satara, a crowd of three thousand
forced the Sub-judge to put on a Gandhi cap and join them in shouting slogans. The
crowd then went to kacheri and forced the Mamlatdar to allow them to hoist the
Congress flag there. At night they burnt the local inspection bungalow. On 9th
September, police opened fire on a determined procession of students killing five and
injuring ten at Nandurbar. In Bihar, the situation took a serious turn after the police
firing near the Secretariat building on 11th August. At Bihta, on 15th August, “40
wagons of British troopsrations” were burnt.
th
Railway traffic was completely
dislocated. On 4 September, prisoners of the Bhagalpur Central Jail murdered the
26
. Home Political File No. 3/15/43
112
D.S.P., the carding master and a warder. The armed police killed twenty –eight
prisoners and wounded another eighty-seven of them. On 11th September 5,000
copper miners went on strike at Mushabanai.
The people of Bihar handled all sorts of weapons in their fight with the police.
Generally they used their own indigenous weaponry which included spears, bows,
arrows and other local products. In October, the jail population in Bihar rose to
27,000.27During the heat of the movement, the Government had almost lost control
over Patna, Arrah, Bhagalpur and Darbhanga districts. Communications were
maintained only through aeroplanes.
In U.P., on 9th August itself, some processions, meetings and hartals took
place. Big meetings were held at Banaras, Allahabad, Mathura and Meerut. On 11th
August, about one hundred school boys were arrested at Etawah. Disturbances spread
to Agra, Moradabad, Hapur, Lucknow, Meerut, Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Nainital. In
Eastern U.P., rural police stations, post offices and tehsils were attacked. Road
communications were disrupted in the Ballia- Ghazipur area.
In some areas in U.P. and Bihar, from where the police had withdrawn,
Congressmen set up their own machinery of Government, and in some places they
even went to the extent of trying out cases and realizing fines and inflicting other
punishments on the accused. Several zamindars were reported to have been asked to
deposit their land revenue with the Congress organization and not to pay it to the
Government.
In the Central Provinces, there was no serious disturbance till 10th August
1942. There were, of course, hartals, processions and meetings. But after 10th August
the situation rapidly deteriorated in Nagpur and the surrounding districts. The most
affected districts were Nagpur, Wardha, Chanda, Bhandara and some parts of the
Amaraoti district.
On 13th August, railway communications were widely disrupted. All public
buildings at Ramtek were burnt down.
Five railway stations on the Nagpur-
Chindwara narrow gauge were burnt. At Chimur, in the Chanda District, the SubDivisional Magistrate, Circle Inspector of Police, Naib Tahsildar and one constable
were murdered. One constable was speared and died subsequently. About ten forest
27
. Home Political File Nos. 18/8/42 to 18/11/42, Fortnightly reports, Bihar, August-November 1942.
113
depots were set on fire. Troubles spread to Betul district also. The Government had
to construct additional jails to accommodate political prisoners. Some prisoners in
Nagpur, Jubbalpore, Bhandara, Betul and Wardha carried on agitation inside jails
also.
In Delhi, a hartal was observed on 9th August, and disturbances spread out the
following day. In the Connaught Place the Lloyds Bank was attacked and some
window panes were damaged. Tramcars were stoned. “On the 11th August serious
trouble started when a procession ordered to disperse in the Chandni Chowk became
suddenly violent and the police were forced to open fire in self-defence.” In the early
morning of 12th August, the Calcutta-Kalka mail was derailed.
In Dacca, the Munsif’s court, a police outpost and six post offices were
attacked, and their records burnt. In Dacca, Burdwan and Khulna, mobs damaged
court buildings. On 19th September, a mob at Bhanga (Faridpur) murdered a SubInspector and wounded two constables.
In Assam, where disturbances did not erupt immediately, it was mainly in the
Nowgong district that some serious incidents of sabotage occurred in the second half
of August 1942. Railway lines were dislocated, and portions of the track removed, on
the night of 24th August, between Kampur and Jamunamukh, and at Puranigudam.On
25th August, a Captain of the Assam Rifles was assaulted for confiscating Congress
flags. His jemadar was severely beaten. Railway and post offices were attacked and
road bridges damaged at many places. The Kathiatali inspection bungalow, several
excise shops and the Raha circle offices were burnt. A mail van was looted near
Goalpura. A military depot was burnt at Palasbari (Kamrup). At Sarbhog, on 28th
and 29th August, the crowd burnt the Garrison Engineer’s office, the post and
telegraph office and an inspection bungalow. In Sylhet the crowd destroyed the
furniture and records of the post office, Executive Engineer’s office and Income Tax
office. Later, similar disturbances spread to the Sibsagar district.28
Schools and College students everywhere took active part in picketing,
processions and hartals. On 18th September, at Berhampur near Nowgong, a meeting
attended by two thousand persons was fired upon and three persons were killed. On
20th September, a mob of two thousand attacked the Dhekiajuli police station
28
. Home Political File Nos. 18/8/42, 18/9/42, Fortnightly reports, Assam, August, September 1942
114
(Darrang) and tried to hoist the Congress flag on it. Police resorted to firing, killing
eight persons and injuring twelve. Among the dead were three women.
In Orissa also serious disturbances occurred late, and these were in the
Districts of Balasore, Cuttack and Koraput. In the Koraput district, markets were
raided, liquor shops, police stations and road bridges damaged, and telegraph wires
cut.
On 28th September, police opened fire on a mob that was attacking the
Basudebpur police station at Eram. Twenty-five people were killed in this firing.29
In Punjab disturbances took place in Lahore, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Sargodha,
Lyallpur, Multan, Gurgaon and Rawalpindi. In Sargodha, a crowd of two thousand
persons attacked a police party with brickbats. On 13th August, some two hundred
students damaged street lamps and invaded the Municipal office and a local railway
agency. Police in Multan pushed some students into a pond; as a result, three of them
were drowned.30
Though the people of Sind and North-West Frontier Province resented the
arrest of Gandhi and the other Congress leaders no serious incident took place there.
The Quit India movement was not confined to British India alone. It made
deep inroads into different princely states, and inspired the people there to make their
contribution to the cause of India’s independence. For the purpose a member of Praja
Mandals were organised. The Quit India movement was more intensive in Saurashtra,
Ujjain, Gwalior, Kotah, Rajputana, Mysore, Baroda and Kashmir. In Kashmir, the
Government Silk Weaving Factory was burnt. In Mysore, the Bhadrawati Steel
Works, the Kolar Gold Fields and the Hindustan Aircraft Factory (Bangalore) were on
strikes for a long period. The Harihar railway line was completely dislocated. These
activities considerably damaged the property of the Government of India in the
Princely states.31
An examination of the main incidents which took place in course of the mass
upsurge in August- September 1942 makes it clear that the communication system,
viz., railways and posts and telegraphs, received special attention of the people.
There was a belief that by disrupting the communation network, the people could
29
. Home Political File Nos. 18/8/42, 18/9/42, Fortnightly reports, Orissa, August, September 1942
. Home Political File Nos. 18/8/42, 18/9/42, Fortnightly reports, Punjab, August, September 1942
31
. Home Political File No.3/89/42
30
115
capture a few isolated tehsils and thanas as a first step towards the occupation of the
district headquarters.
In the first week of August 1942, all the railways suffered more or less.
Shortage of coal also considerably reduced the number of running trains. In Eastern
U.P. and Bihar trains could run only during day time under the protection of military
convoys.
As regards postal and telegraphic communications, the worst affected areas
were Bihar, Eastern U.P., Eastern Bengal, Northern Assam, Wardha, Chanda,
Amaraoti and Akola districts in the Central Provinces, Bezawada(Vijayawada),
Guntur, Ramnad and Madura districts in Madras and the cities of Poona and Bombay.
Five hundred and fifty –three post offices were attacked, of which twenty-eight were
completely burnt. Two hundred and eighteen post offices were temporarily closed
down.
All the communication lines connected with Patna were completely cut
off.Through military wireless communication system only the officials at Patna
maintained contact with the rest of India.32
In case of post offices, the mobs first entered and took out the furniture, forms
and records, and made a bonfire of them in front of the offices. In some cases, the
telegraph and other instruments were smashed, and in a few cases, the cash, stamps
and other valuable articles were looted. No harm was usually done to the staff
working in the offices. The posts were pulled down and cable junction boxes burnt.
Only Punjab, Sind, N.W.F.P., Rajputana and Central India were free from these
troubles.33
Bombs were frequently used during this time, particularly in Bombay, C.P.
(Central Provinces) and Bengal. Crude country made bombs were made in cigarette
tin containers, in brass lotas, coconut shells and the like. The bombs contained steel
ball-bearings, shrapnel, bullets, gramophone pins and pieces of glass and china.
Many people died in the process of manufacturing them. The mob also used to throw
at the police electric bulbs filled with acid. Dacoitied for political purposes, too,
became common.
32
33
. Home Political File No.3/16/42
. Home Political File No.3/16/42
116
The chief industrial centres of the country played a significant part in the Quit
India Movement. A unique feature of the movement in these centres was the cooperation between the management and labour. When the movement started, the
Ahmedabad group of mill owners took the lead and closed their factories for an
indefinite period. Soon their example was followed by others in different places. The
Government suspected that strikes in mills and factories were being engineered by
G.D. Birla in Calcutta and Jalpaiguri Marwari businessmen in general were suspected
to be in sympathy with the movement.34
The following were the more important strikes that considerably affected the
Government of India’s war production:
1. The Cotton Textile Mills of Bombay and Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad mills
were on strikes for about 10 days.
2. The General Motors of Bombay (from 10th August to 2nd September 1942).
3. Lever brothers (from 10th August to 2nd September 1942).
4. Tata Iron and Steel Company, Jamshedpur (from 21st August to 3rdSeptember
1942).
5. Hindustan Aircraft Manufacturing Company, Bangalore (4-5 days)
6. Birla Jute Mills (one week)
7. The Cotton and Textile Mills of Coimbatore (13 to 18 August, and 24 to 31
August 1942)
8. Cotton Textile Mills, Delhi (10 August to 9 September 1942)
9. I.G.N. & Railway Company’s Dockyard, Garden Reach, Calcutta.
10. Buckingham & Carnatic Mills, Madras.35
Besides these, the Mysore Iron and Steel Works, Calcutta Port Trust, the
Calcutta Tramways, seven engineering concerns of Calcutta, one ordinance factory,
the Cordite factory at Aravankadu, flour mills in Delhi, the Indian Cable Company,
and the East India Railway Workshop were on strike for quite a long period.36
34
. Home Political File No.3/34/42
. Home Political File No.3/26/42
36
. Home Political File No. 3/33/42
35
117
The Government was particularly disturbed by the long strike in the Tata
factories. Linlithgow in a secret letter to Amery, wrote on 22nd August 1942: “In
some ways the most disturbing a development is the openly declared political strike in
the Tata factories- and the serious interruption of vital war industries which this
involves and to which for obvious reasons we have done our best to deny publicity.”37
The youth, both educated and uneducated, played a leading role in the mass
upsurge. The 1942 movement was, indeed, a movement of the youth. They took the
arrest of the top Congress leaders as a national affront. The youth accepted the
challenge. Soon they were in command everywhere.
The Chief Secretary of Bombay reported: “The student class was particularly
in the forefront and in fact was the most troublesome element in cities.”38 In U.P.
“the disturbances were in almost all cases started as a result of the activities of school
boys and students.”39The Chief Secretary of Madras said: “In some districts students
were very prominent in the part they played.” He added that students and unemployed
young men were active everywhere. Students in particular took a leading part during
the earlier stages of the disturbances.40The Bihar Chief Secretary wrote in a similar
vein: “Students were very prominent especially in the early stages and were much to
the fore in organizing and carrying out sabotage.”41 In Orissa, the students of the
Ravenshaw College in Cuttack took a leading part in the demonstrations.42 In Delhi,
as has been noted, the students of the Ramjas and Hindu Colleges led the sabotage
activities.43 In Assam students were active in the Nowgong, Darrang, North Kamrup
and South Goalpara districts.44
The Banaras Hindu University, especially, became the storm centre of
rebellious activities, and from here were organised rebel operations in Eastern India,
37
. Home Political File No. 3/16/42
. Chief Secretary (Bombay) to Home Secretary Government of India, 9th September 1942, Home
Political File No.3/34/42
39
. Chief Secretary (U.P.) to Home Secretary Government of India, 26th October 1942, Home Political
File No.3/34/42
40
. Chief Secretary (Madras) to Home Secretary Government of India, 26th October 1942, Home
Political File No.3/34/42
41
. Chief Secretary (Bihar) to Home Secretary Government of India, 17th September 1942, Home
Political File No.3/34/42
42
. Chief Secretary (Orissa) to Home Secretary Government of India, 11th November 1942, Home
Political File No.3/34/42
43
. Chief Secretary (Delhi) to Home Secretary Government of India, 16th September 1942, Home
Political File No.3/34/42
44
. Chief Secretary (Assam) to Home Secretary Government of India, 16th September 1942, Home
Political File No.3/34/42
38
118
particularly Eastern U.P. and Southern Bihar. Its University Training Corps was
turned into “Indian National Army” under the command of Dr. Kaushalya Nand
Gairola, a member of the staff.
Contrary to what the Viceroy thought, the “revolutionary programme” had,
indeed, “sprung into existence at a moment’s notice.” The Government of India
published a brochure the title of which, Congress Responsibility for theDisturbances
1942-1943, clearly indicated its purpose. Inspite of being heavily documented, it
could refer to but one pre-8th August document which mentioned the destruction of
telegraph and telephone lines. This was the Andhra Provincial Congress Committee
Circular of 29th July which has been discussed earlier.45It is, of course, possible to
argue, onthe basis of this circular, that the demolition of communication lines had
come up for discussion among some top Congress leaders. Yet, it is clear that no
programme had been finalised by the Congress High Command by 8th August 1942
and also thatno central circular on the lines of the Andhra Congress circular had been
issued. However, when the movement broke out, people followed a more or less
common programme, which included attack on telegraph and telephone lines, police
stations and government property in general.
Referring to their own work, Patvardhan and Aruna described the organisation
and leadership provided by underground leaders in Bombay.
Rajendra Prasad’s testimony is emphatic. No person of group of persons,
according to him, can be given the credit for spreading the ideas which led to the
adoption of a certain programme by the people all over the country during AugustSeptember 1942. The credit should go to the Government of India and to Amery.
While on 9th August the newspapers had published the Congress resolution of August
8, the Government had issued a communiqué seeking to explain the reasons for its
arrests of Gandhi and members of the Congress Working Committee. That
communiqué alleged that destruction of the means of communications like Posts and
Telegraphs and the railways formed a part of Congress programme. On 10th August
1942, in a speech, broadcast from London and published in all Indian newspapers,
Amery repeated the alleged programme of the Congress. As the Congress had issued
no programme, the people got the impression from these reports that an attack on
45
. Andhra Provincial Congress Committee’s Circular, 29th July 1942, Congress Responsibility, n.9,
pp.55-6
119
communications must have been included in the Congress programme and started
acting on that presumption.46
The absence of a central organization behind the movement, having branches
in all parts of the country, made the task of the Government in suppressing it less
difficult than it would otherwise have been. Even so it was by no means easy and the
Government soon realized this. In the beginning, of course, the authorities tended to
belittle the mass upsurge. On 11th August 1942, Linlithgow informed Amery that but
for a rash of sporadic disorder of varying degrees of seriousness, the situation was not
too bad. Although, the police and the executive authoritiesin the provinces had to
bear considerable stain, there “was nothing of great importance.”47
A couple of days later the Viceroy reassured Amery that the situation
throughout the country was well in hand. The students, though, continued to give
trouble in various places, and industrial areas like Lucknow, Kanpur, Bombay,
Nagpur and Ahmedabad, betrayed signs of strain due partly to the “local hooligans”
and partly to the presence of large number of mill-hands on strike.48
The Government of India, in a communication to provincial Governments on
27th August 1942, asked them to use provisions of chapter IV of the Criminal
Procedure Code and particularly section 42 thereof, whereby every member of the
public was bound to hive information relating to sabotage etc. to the local authorities.
By exercising the powers of Defence of India Rule, 59A, the Government could
employ all persons who were above sixteen and below fifty, living within one mile for
the protection of railway, telephone and telegraph lines. In the same way, persons
living within three miles would be responsible for the protection of Tehsil
headquarters, police stations or other Government property.
The Viceroy even permitted, as early as 15th August, the machine gunning of
saboteurs from air. Naturally it was decided that such actions would not be
published.49In order to prevent the recurrence of attacks on lines of communication,
the Government imposed collective fines on the inhabitants of certain areas. Some
provincial Governments went a step further and, for their own convenience, imposed
thewhole burden of fine on firms, companies, landlords, merchants, employers, or
46
. Rajendra Prasad, Autobiography (Bombay, 1957), p.549.
. Linlithgow to Amery, 11th August 1942, Mansergh, n.2, vol.2, p.662
48
. Linlithgow to Amery, 13th August 1942, ibid., pp.682-3
49
. Home Political File No. 3/28/42
47
120
owners of property on the ground that their employees and tenants were involved in
the disturbances.In order to reward the Muslims who kept aloof from the movement
and to induce others to follow suit, the Government exempted them from the payment
of collective fines.
The Government knew that its massive efforts would be of no avail, if it could
not control the press, a major section of which was supporting the Congress. B.J.
Kirchner, Chief Press Advisor to the Government of India warned the newspaper
editors well in time on 31st July 1942, “to refrain from giving publicity to statements
and articles which contain direct or indirect incitement to support the threatened
movement.50
The Government also apprehended that figures and news regarding the
movement might be utilised by enemy broadcasts. The Standing Committee of the
All India Newspaper Editors’ Conference met on 24th and 25th August 1942, and
requested the Government to withdraw these restrictions, since they violated the spirit
of the Delhi agreement, which had governed relations between the Government and
the press during the period of the Individual Civil Disobedience movement. The
Standing Committee agreed to accept a general order of “pre-censorship” of news
under Defence of India Rule 41 (i) (a), especially if the scrutiny could be carried out
in association with the representatives of the press themselves.
A section of the Indian Press, however, felt dissatisfied with the stand taken by
the All India Newspaper Editors’ Conference, seceded from this body, and founded
the Press Association of India on 15th September 1942, with Ram Nath Goenka
(Editor, Indian Express) as chairman and Devadas Gandhi (Hindustan Times), K.
Rama Rao (National Herald), K.P. Narayan and Samaldas Gandhi as members. This
body appealed to the nationalist press to cease publication immediately against
Government’s recent prohibitive orders.
The BombayGovernment seized the Navajivan Mudranalaya, Ahmedabad, and
destroyed all the old copies of the Harijan and along with them some books, leaflets
and other miscellaneous papers.51The nationalist newspapers, in response to Gandhi’s
advice on 8th August 1942, and as a mark of protest against the Government’s
repressive measures, decided to suspend their publications from 16thAugust to 6th
50
51
. Home Political File No. 3/13/42
. Home Political File No. 4/5/44
121
September 1942. About seventeen English papers went on strike. Of these, seven
including the Amrita Bazar Patrika (Calcutta) reappeared on 31st August 1942, at the
request of the All India Newspaper Editors Conference. The Government was so
keen to muzzle the press mainly because of its unwillingness to make public the
excesses committed by the army and police in suppressing the movement, particularly
in U.P. and Bihar.
In Midnapur District, by the night of 28th September, Tamluk- Panskura,
Tamluk-Mahisadal, Tamluk-Narghat, Kukurahati-Balurghat roads were blocked by
laying trees on roads. On 29thSeptember frontal attacks were made simultaneously on
Tamluk, Mahisadal and Sutahata police stations and Nandigram police station was
raided 30 September 1942.52 Members of the ‘Vidyut Bahini’ were given training in
parade, guerrilla warfare and nursing. Susil Kumar Dhara, the main architect of the
‘Vidyut Bahini’, was the trainer.
In the Mewar State, on 21st August, 1942, the Mewar Rajya Prajamandal
sent an ultimatum to the Maharana of Mewar to sever all connections with the British
Government and to turn out the Political Agent and all European officers from the
State. On that very day the Mewar State Government arrested Manikyalal Verma
along with Prajamandal leaders in the Udaipur city and countryside after the public
meeting at Dhanmandi as the fiery speeches delivered by the Prajamandal leaders at
the meeting were liable to incite breach of peace in the State.53
In Tamilnadu, Kakkan from Thumbaipatty at Melur Taluk in Madurai
district.Kakkan had gone to many villages by near Madurai and spearheaded this
movement very successfully with the advice of Vaidhyanath Ayyar and Kamarajar.
He stimulated the people and pupils to conduct strike, boycott of schools and colleges.
The British Government arrested many number of the leaders and other Congress
volunteers including Kakkan. This had happened in 10th August 1942. The British
Government took him to Alipuram jail which is located in Bellary district in Andhra
Pradesh.54In Tamilnadu, when the leaders were arrested, Rukmini Lakshmipathi
became the acting president of the Tamilnadu Congress Committee and took the
52
. District officers Chronicles of events of Disturbances 1942-43, Bengal Home Depts.
. Mohanlal Sukhadia, (ed.), Mewar Rajya Prajamandal, 1938-1945, Publicity Secretary, Udaipur, p.7
54
. P.Velmurugan, Chronicle of Kakkan with special reference of his role in freedom movement in
Tamilnadu from 1929-1947, 32nd Annual Session Proceedings of South Indian History Congress,
Chennai, 2012, p. 120-122, see also G.O.Ms.No. 4072, Home Department, 12th August 1942, pp.5769, TNA
53
122
initiative to keep the organization alive. In Madras City, the students both from
schools and colleges played a spiritual role in accelerating the national struggle.
Students from Queen Mary’s college, Women’s Christian College, Presidency
College, Law College, Pachaiyappa’s College abstained from classes, and organized
hartals, processions and picketing.55Other womens from Tamilnadu Anusuya Reddy
from Queen Mary’s College, Madras was prosecuted for shouting prejudicial slogans
in front of the Egmore court on February 1943. On the same day, another student
named, Mahalakshmi Bharathi from Christian College, Tambaram was also arrested
and detained on charges of picketing and shouting slogans in front of the Secretariat.
Ammu Swaminathan, the President of the Madras Board of All India Women’s
Conference and Manjubhashini the President of the Madras Women’s Students
organization were primarily responsible for organizing hartals, strikes, demonstrations
in the Madras City. Lalitha Rao from Presidency College, Maya Joseph from Madras
University(Research Student)were also arrested in this movement.
Ambujammal
started the “Voluntary Corps” of Madras. It played a very important role in helping
the refugees with food and shelter.56
In Karnataka the activities of the Quit India Movement was wide spread in
Dharwad, Bijapur, Shivmoga, Chitradurga, Bangalore, Tumkur and Mysore.Quit
India movement took a violent turn when disturbances occurred at Isur in Shimoga
district. In the beginning, the movement at Isur was peaceful when the Amaldar and
Sub-Inspector visited the village. The clashes took place between Sathyagrahis and
officers, in this attack the Sub-Inspector and amildar were killed on the spot.57Even
women participated in this assault. Among the women of Isur, Halamma,
Parvathamma and Siddhamma stood out prominently because these three women
went forward in the face of danger in order to save the killing of a girl by the SubInspector. Prominent women participants from Karnataka were Umabai Kundapura,
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Bellary Siddamma, Nagamma patil, Krishnabai
panajikar and J.C. Bhagirathamma.
55
. The Bombay Chronicle, dated10-10-1942
. G.O. No. 844-845, Public (Confidential) Department, dated 22-03-1943, see also Dr.B. Palammal,
The Participation of women students in the National Movement,32nd Annual Session Proceedings of
South Indian History Congress, Chennai, 2012, p. 320-321
57
. Dr. Venkateshulu, Women participation in Gandhian movements-Karnataka, 31st Annual Session
Proceedings of South Indian History Congress, Kadapa, 2011, p. 234 see also G.S. Hallappa,
Freedom movement in Karnataka, Vol. 2, p.445
56
123
Malathi Choudhury was one among five representatives from Orissa. They
returned with Gandhiji’s messagae that “Our country is independent from today,
follow the peaceful method, paralyse the Government. You yourself become a leader.
This is the last struggle. In it there is no compromise.” While spreading this “Do or
Die” message among the people in Orissa, 24 Congress leaders including the gallant
Rama Devi were arrested who exercised effective control over the public in the
State.58Malati Choudhury took an outstanding role in the underground activities in the
1942 Revolution. As an underground leader she guided the progress of the movement
at different parts of Orissa. She remained a leading woman stalwart in the movement.
Like her, Sarala Devi, Rama Devi and Annapurna Maharana remained leading figures
in the revolution of August, 1942. In addition to them, a host of other women who
also led the movement were Sunamani Devi, Sushila Kanungo, Bela Devi, Nisamani
Devi, Bilasi Devi, Usha Devi, Sakunthala Devi, Kshetramani Devi, Uttara
Choudhury, Godhavari Devi, Mangala Devi, Parvathi Devi, Sobhavathi Panda,
Champa Devi, Baralaxmi Devi, Hemalatha Sumantha, Apurva Devi, Suryamma and
Timulu Arhalu. Their dedications, sacrifices and sufferings for motherland have no
parallel in the history of our freedom movement.
Dr. H.K. Mahtab, the eminent Congress leader of Orissa was one of those
leaders who were arrested in Bombay and sent to the Ahmednagar fort jail. As the
news spread like wild fire, the people of Orissa joined the movement in large
numbers. The most daring incident took place at Mathili Police Station in Koraput
district when a mob under the leadership of Laxman Naik tried to capture the Police
Station. But the mob was mercilessly beaten up. During the scuffle, a forest guard
was killed and the police opened fire killing five on the spot. Laxman Naik was
falsely accused of beating the guard to death. Later on he was sentenced to death on
29th March 1943 in Berhampur Central Jail. At Kaipada-Kalamatia of Jaipur, Police
opened fire. Even an aeroplane dropped tear gar shells. Three people died on the spot
on police firing. Nimpada of Puri district, Tudigadia and Kahiradha, Eram in the
Balasore district peoples also participated in this movement. At Cuttack, Surendra
Nath Dwivedi started underground activities. He circulated revolutionary bulletins
which surcharged the atmosphere with high patriotism. But he was arrested soon.59
58
59
. Orissa Review, Vol. XLVI, No. 1, August, 1989
. Baladhadra Ghadai, Quit India Movement in Orissa, Orissa Review, August-2007, pp.53-54
124
From Berhampur, Adurti Laxmibai, participated in Quit India Movement. She
was anti-government speech, she was arrested and imprisoned several times.
Sobhabati Panda also participated and she marched in political procession, propagated
her Khaddar and motivated the people to disobey the British rules and regulations.
For this she was again arrested and sent to prison.60 Kundalata Devi also involved in
this movement and the Seva Dala Training Centres and became a victim of police
atrocities. Smt. Surjyamma picketing before the liquor shops. For her anti-government
activities, she was arrested twice and sent to jail for many years. It is heartening to
note that, she died broken-hearted on 30th January 1948 when she heard the news of
the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Smt. J.V. Nayayana was another illustrious
woman freedom fighter of the Ganjam District. She mobilised the women of the
Berhampur town for the Quit India Movement by door to door visit. She was famous
for her patriotic speeches, she was arrested and imprisoned twice for her anti-British
activities.61
In Maharashtra, the outstanding feature of the movement started in the
districts of Satara and Sangli of today’s Western Maharashtra came to be known as
the Prathisarkar. The whole credit of this movement goes to Nana Ramachandra
Patil, Yashwantrao Balvantrao Chavan, Vasant Dada Patil and P.G. Patil. Nana Patil
had built a cadre of workers while Yeswant Rao Chavan gave a call to all students to
assemble together who boycotted schools in the area under the leadership of Y.B.
Chavan. They had mass rallies in every taluka the area.
In Jemshedpur, Ganga Prasad Thakur (Kadma) imprisoned for one year in
Bhagalpur Central Jail, Gobardhar Sonar (Golmuri) was imprisoned for six months in
Bhagalpur Central Jail, Ayyanna (Sonari) was imprisonment for 9 months in Purulia,
Jemshedpur and Fulwari Sharif Jail, Bijay Krishna Basak (Burma mines market)
violated 144 and tried to enter into collectors office and arrested and get
imprisonment for 5 months in Pabna district jail then convicted 1 year and also
arrested as a security prisoner in March 1945 and transferred to Rajasthan Central Jail
and after 10 months he was released on 25th December 1945.62
60
. Mardaraj, Special Issue, South Orissa Freedom Fighters volume, Khallikote, 2008, pp. 75-79
. Bhagabana Sahu, The Unsung Heroins of Ganjam, A Study on their contributions to the Indian
Freedom Movement, South Indian History Congress 29th Annual Session Proceedings, Tirunelveli,
2009, p. 69
62
. List of freedom fighters of Purbi Singhbhum District
61
125
Despite the warning from the Superintendent of Police of Sambalpur for
unlawful gathering a number of meetings were held at Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Barpali,
Khariar and in Sambalpur in defiance of the notice or warning.63 In this movement
Khariar people to lodge their protest against the British Raj and early release of
Gandhiji. There was widespread unrest in Khariar, Nilji, Sinapali and Manyu more
remote villages and people in large numbers courted arrest.
On 16th August 1942, the General Secretary of the Kashmiri Pandit Yuvak
Sabha issued a statement to the press, supporting the resolution of the National
conference which called for protest demonstrations against the arrest of the Congress
leaders on 23rd August 1942. In his statement, the General Secretary of the Yuvak
Sabha declared that the time had come “when Indian people should be given complete
control over their country’s affairs”.64
In Meerut authorities banned public meetings and processions. The District
Magistrate declared all the Congress organisations illegal.65Ten local leaders
including Vishnu Saran Dublish, Raghukul Tilak were arrested in the morning of 9th
August 1942. This all was protested by the people and students of Meerut. Police
resorted to lathi charge and the mounted police was able to disperse the students.
However, in the scuffle many people were severely injured and were admitted to the
hospital. Police arrested about 221 men and women.66
The Committee of Travancore State Congress met in August to arrange for the
annual Conference of the Congress which was not be held since the outbreak of war.
The conference was organized on August 11th to 12th at which the question of
supporting the Quit India campaign of the Indian National Congress was discussed.
At the time Akkamma Cheriyan and N. Narayana Pillai were elected as president and
secretary respectively. On 12th August 1942 a complete hartal was observed in
Nagercoil. From 13th August 1942 in almost all these days the students of Carmal
High School, Kottar abstained from their classes and took out processions and
organized meetings. On 14th August 1942 the students of Scott Christian School let
out a procession carrying tricolour Flags and bearing placards depicting the words ‘we
63
. Mishra, C.R., Freedom Movement in Sambalpur (1827), B.P. Publishing Corporation, Delhi, 1986,
pp. 233-234
64
. Paramanand Parashar, Kashmir and the freedom movement, Sarup & Sons publications, New Delhi,
2004, p. 204
65
. Meerut District Gazetteers, Allahabad, 1965, p. 59
66
. Ibid, p. 60
126
need freedom’ down with imperialism etc.on 16th August Vedakkan an agriculturist
and member of town Congress Committee convened a meeting at Kuzhithurai to
politicize the local people on the next day.
On 17th August Nagalingam of
Ramakarmapuram attempted to assault of police constable on duty. He was arrested
and sent to Trivandrum Central Jail, where he was treated cruelly. He suffered more
at the Savage beatings of the jail authorities.67
The British Government did not realize the intensity of situation becoming
worse day by day. The cases of mass destruction of public property occurred at many
parts of Haryana like railway lines, damaging buildings, telegraph and telephone
lines, and pilferage of letter-boxes etc. The people were determined to attack at all
symbols of imperialism throughout India.68 Taking it the last battle with colonial
regime, they became violent and started targeting government properties as the
following table shows.
Non-violent Activities during Quit India Movement in Haryana
Particulars
Number of Destructive activities
The Telephone wires cut
45
The Post Offices attacked
11
The Govt. Building attacked
08
The Railway lines and fish-plates damaged
06
The Police stations attacked
04
Total
74
Chaudhry Ranbir Singh, Master Nandu Ram, Pt. Sheokaran and other dozen of
Congress workers were arrested and locked up at Bahadurgarh Police station. In
Ambala, Lala Duni Chand, M.L.A., was arrested on 16th August 1942 under Rule 129
of Defence of India Rule.69
The next significant aspect was the economic condition which created great
resentment among the people due to shortage of Sugar, Kerosene oil, cloth, coins and
67
. R. Suresh, Role of Kanyakumari District in Quit India Movement- A Case Study, International
Journal ofPhysical and Social Sciences, Vol.2, Issue 3, March 2012, 95-97
68
. B.D. Yadav, Glan Singh, Freedom Struggle in Haryana and Chaudhry Ranbir singh, Nagri Printers,
New Delhi, 2010, 184
69
. The Tribune, 20 August 1942
127
grains in the regions of Haryana. The press published many reports about the wheat
policy of provincial government which was held responsible for worsening food
problems and rising prices.70
Women of Assam joined the movement in large numbers.Accordingly, the
plan was drawn under the leadership of Pushpalatha Das to hoist the national flag on
20th September in Gohpur, Dhekiajuli, Bihali and Sootea. It was decided to come out
in processions consisting of men and women from nearby villages and to proceed for
flag hoisting.The police opened fire on the peaceful processionists at Gohpur and
Dhekiajuli. Kanaklata Barua, Khahuli Devi and Kamuli Devi died of bullet injuries
on the spot and many others were badly injured. About the participation of women in
these programs the Gopinath Bordoloi Committee report says: What is unique is that,
in these daring acts women took an active part and were always in the forefront.
Amid such violence caused by the police, Tileswari Mahanta, a daring women
volunteer successfully hoisted the national flag at Bihali police station.In Sibsagar
District, Aikan Bhuyan of Mudoijan near Teok took the lead in setting fire to the
Amguri High School. The local Congress entrusted the task of carrying top secret
messages from one place to another to Sudhalatha Dutta and Reboti Lahon, who often
had to traverse long distances on foot to carry out their duty. Sudhalatha Dutta once
even covered a distance of 142 kilometer on foot with a child on her lap.71In
Nowgong district Jaymati Saikia cooperated with the revolutionary group to burn the
Bebejia road bridge on 25/26 August 1942. In that district girls like Pitrani Saikia and
Dagati Bora worked for the security of the underground male workers. Brajnath
Sarma’s wives Gunawathi Devi and Rakshada Devi helped their husband and his
underground party workers to carry on their sabotage activities by providing them
with food and shelter. Ratnabala Phukan, a female member of the death squad, not
only took part in the destruction of bridge and the burning down of government
buildings but also allowed her house to be used as a center of underground activities.
Role of Working Class in Quit India Movement in Madras Presidency
The call for confronting the colonial state was received with a new enthusiasm
by the subaltern classes all over the Madras Presidency. They demonstrated their
70
71
. Home (Dept.) Political, 18th August 1943, first-half of August 1943, Punjab
. Rekha Rani Sarma Puzari, Kazumi Mazane, Role of Assamese Women in the Freedom Struggle of
India, Devi Charan Baruah Girls College, Jorhat, 2001, pp. 7-8
128
solidarity through all the means at their disposal. For instance, the tailors of the
Associated Agencies had stayed away from their work on 10th August 1942 in Vellore
and on the same day, the local Congress workers prevented the workers of the local
industries from attending their work and threw stones at the police at Rajapalayam in
Ramnad district. And two days after nearly 800 tailors employed by a military
contractor in the Madras city observed a hartal on 12th August 1942 and it was
followed by stoppage of work by some of the tailors employed by another contractor.
On 12th August 1942, workers belonging to two industries in Coimbatore struck work,
following which the District Magistrate had passed orders prohibiting meetings and
procession in and around Coimbatore. However, on 13th August 1942, industrial
workers in 11mills had gone on strike and N.G. Ramaswami, working class leader and
a Member of Legislative Assembly was arrested under the Defence of India Rules.
Following this in Udamalpet also, three mills had struck work on 13 and 14 August
1942 and prohibitory orders were issued under Section 144 at Tiruppur and
Udamalpet.On 14th August 1942, telegraph wires were cut around Coimbatore. And
again on 24th August 1942, industrial workers from several mills struck work at
Singanallur near Coimbatore.72 The thatched shed at an aerodrome under construction
near Coimbatore was set on fire and 22 Lorries were destroyed. Three persons were
burnt to death. There was a pitched battle between the agitators armed with guns and
bombs and the armed police.73On 14th August 1942, in Coimbatore, at 02:00 AM., an
ammunition supply train from Cochin consisting of two engines and 46 wagons were
derailed because of the removal of fish plates and spikes between Podanur and
Singanallur railway stations. On 16th August 1942, in Tambaram, a meeting proposed
to be held by the Madras and Southern Maharatta Railway Employees Union was
banned by an order under Section 144 Criminal Procedure Code, which provoked
stay-in-strike inside the workshops from 70 percent of the employees of the Madras
and Southern Mahratta Railway as a protest against the prohibitory order. V.V. Giri,
All India Trade Union Congress(A.I.T.U.C.)president was arrested. On 24th and 25th
August, the workers of Buckingham&Carnatic Mills was caused by the cessation of
work in a section of the Buckingham & Carnatic Mills was caused by the operation of
the emergency switch by some workers. On 28thAugust 1942workers of several
72
. District Calender of Events of the Civil Disobedience Movement, August-December 1942, T.N.A,
Madras, 1943, pp.34-35
73
. Telegram from Linlithgow to Amery, 28th August 1942, DCECDM, pp.36-37
129
industries, that is, Public Works Department, Madras Port Trust, Binny’s Beach
Engineering Works and the Madras Electric Tramway and Supply Corporation
ostensibly agitated for increase in dearness allowance.74Thus, in the month of August,
1942, hundreds of workers from the Buckingham& Carnatic Mills and the Public
Workshops had struck work. A large number of workers of the workers of the
Madras Port Trust, Madras Electric Tramway and Madras Corporation carried on
agitations. There was also picketing of toddy shopsin certain parts of the city and the
toddy shop in Choolai was set on fire. Several post boxes were burnt and some
attempts at ‘incendiarism’ were made in the High Court buildings and a bomb was
thrown in the Muthialpet(Madras) Police Station.75
The response of restlessness of the industrial workers and subaltern classes
was also prominently felt in the other regions of the Madras Presidency, where the
presence of working class was also prominent. For instance, on 13thAugust 1942, the
sheds of the Indian Leaf Tobacco Development Company and a railway engine were
burnt at Ponnur in Guntur district.On 10th August 1942, an order was passed under
Section 144, Criminal Procedure Code in Madura city prohibiting meetings,
processions and carrying of any weapons. However, an attempt by the local Congress
leaders to hold a public meeting was foiled by the British police. People fought with
brickbats against the police, which opened fire on them resulting in death of five
persons. On 13th August 1942, some of the ‘rowdies’ threw acid at police, when
Viadyanatha Ayyar, Chairman of the Town Congress Committee, was arrested. On
14th August 1942, a bus was set on fire by a crowd of ‘hooligans’. Violent incidents
continued even in the night, which resulted in the killing of two persons. And again
on 15th August 1942, there were violent incidents, which continued unabated and led
to the extent of police opening fire. ‘In all 20 rounds were fired, six persons were
killed and 11 injured. Section 144 Cr.P.C. was imposed’. Further, on 16th August
1942, the violent incidents erupted where the ‘hooligans’ attack led to the looting of a
post office and burning of two toddy shops at Periakulam. A car with a European
couple was stoned injuring its occupants. Quite significantly, on 19th August 1942, an
74
. District Calender of Events of the Civil Disobedience Movement, August-December 1942, T.N.A,
Madras, 1943, p. 2-3
75
. Baliga, ‘Madras in the Struggle for Freedom’, quoted in Sundararajan, March to Freedom in
Madras Presidency, p.30
130
attempt was made to cause disruption to the Madura Mills, as iron fillings were
discovered by the staff in the main bearing of the mill engine before it was started.
The month of August 1942 had witnessed several intense outbursts of anger
and militancy of the subalterns particularly of the industrial workers. The colonial
regime too had not admit that the incidents which occurred at different locations
particularly Ramnad, Madura and Tanjore districts in Tamilnadu region and Guntur,
Krishna and Godavari districts in Andhra region in August 1942 were really violent
revolutionary outbreaks. As the storm of violent resistance against the colonial state
subsided, it was followed by the calmness of people’s response. Thus, there was a
gradual waning of enthusiasm and tempo in the resistance against the colonial state.
However, here and there the flicker of protest was still kept alive. For instance, in
Tuticorin on the outskirts of the town, two toddy shops were set on fire of the night on
12th September 1942. In one of the toddy shops, the watcher and his wife were burnt
to death. The total damage caused to the toddy shops was estimated to be Rs. 1,000.
It was suspected that the ‘mill coolies of the locality’ were involved in these acts of
damage. And on 15th September 1942, in Elur in Andhra region, the trunk telephone
was disconnected near the Jute Mill. And in Guntur on 13th November 1942, a young
weaver asked the postmaster of a branch post office to shout Gandhi-ki-jai. He had
then set fire to a piece of cloth soaked in kerosene and dropped it into the letter box.
He was arrested by the postal staff. About 20 letters were burnt and 50 letters partly
damaged.76
The Role of the Communists inthe Quit India Movement
The subject of the role of the Communist Party of India in the struggle for
freedom of India during the critical era of 1942 is an aspect of great interest in the
scholarly debate. It evoked an exciting discussion on post-colonial India.77 However,
what needs to be underlined is that it constitutes only a blinkered and incorrect
perception of the Communist Party of India, which had hitherto played a singular role
in building an anti-imperialist front before 1942 and made undoubtedly a remarkable
contribution to the awakening of mass of subalterns to rise and fight for their
legitimate rights and against exploitation of landlords and capitalists, if it is to be
76
. District Calender of Events of the Civil Disobedience Movement, (DCECDM), August-December
1942, T.N.A, Madras, 1943, p. 59
77
. Roy, ‘Samachar’s Discoveries’, p. 111; Sarkar, ‘The Communists and 1942’, pp.45-53
131
comprehended as a party, which suddenly turned to be anti-national or unpatriotic or
pro-British or even against the interests of the Indian nation.It demonstrates only a
gross and inaccurate assessment of a historic force, which had engendered radical
protest tradition in the course of anti-colonial struggle in India.
The Hitler’s attack on Russia in the summer of 1941 brought about a change in
the policy of the Indian Communists. Though the slogan of an imperialist war gave
way to the new cry of the people’s war, the anti-war activities of the communists
continued further. And interestingly the launch of ‘Quit India’ movement did not
disconnect them from the cause of anti-colonialism in India. At several locations,
they were opposed to the British government for arresting the National Congress
leaders. They organised protest meetings demonstrating their disapproval of colonial
policy of trampling of peoples movement. In Madras presidency, the communists
were very active in organising meetings to express their support to the National
Congress and condemning the action of the colonial regime for their suppressive
methods.
For instance, on 9th August 1942, communists organised meetings at
Guntur, Tenali and Narasaraopet and condemned the arrest of Congress leaders. They
also urged the formation of National Government and emphasised the necessity for
total war front against the Axis powers. On the same day, two protest meetings were
organised in Bezawada, that is, one by the Congress leaders and other by the
communists, where the action of the government in arresting the leaders was
condemned. And in Masulipatnam also, a procession and meeting was organised by
the communists.Further, on 10th August 1942, complete hartal was observed in
Bezawada and partially at Masulipatnam and Gudivada. There were also
demonstrations by Congress leaders, communists and students.78The colonial regime
grew apprehensive that the movement in Krishna district had gathered strength as a
result of the Congress and the communists joining their forces against the
government.
More interestingly, on 18th August 1942, ‘there were hartals at
Mangalore, Udipi and Karkal and printed hand bills purporting to be issued by the
Mangalore Communist Party and other manuscript handbills inciting people to overt
acts of subversion against the Government were secretly distributed in Mangalore
town. On 25th September 1942, a mass demonstration of workers of various labour
unions was arranged in connection with the observance of the Anti-Repression Day
78
. DCECDM, p. 64
132
by the communists in Madras called for by the General Council of the All India Trade
Union Congress and it was prohibited by an order under City Police Act.79
Yet, what needs to be underscored is that this policy of extending support to
the anti-colonial struggle was not uniform and consistent. It was dotted with their
demonstrated objective of extending support to the success of the democratic forces in
the current war against the fascist forces and a tactical commitment to the principle of
people’s war. There were thus certain locations, where the communists had followed
a policy which was in opposition to the Indian National Congress’s declared policy of
confronting the colonial state. For instance, on 16th August 1942, at the annual
conference of South Indian Railway Labour Union at Trichinopoly, speeches were
made condemning the ‘Quit India’ movement. Towards the end of the meeting some
Congress supporters, who shouted Gandhi-ki-jai were roughly handled by the rest of
the audience.
Further in Malabar district, it was noted thatthe timely arrest of
Congress leaders had forestalled the programme of the Congressmen a good deal.
The counter acting influence of the Muslim League and to a certain extent, the nonparticipation attitude of the communists also seemed to have acted as a brake on the
Quit India Movement.80
The political space thus left forces was appropriated by the Indian National
Congress. Gandhi was able to comprehend better than the communist leaders the
popular mood against the British and the stand to be taken.Though theoretically the
stand of the Communist Party was not untenable, it did go against the rising anticolonial sentiments of the Indian people particularly the industrial workers.
Therefore, it could not remain away from the upsurge of the anti-colonial movement
in some regions at the provincial level.
The colonial regime did not, however, repose its complete trust in the avowed
policy of the Communist Party of India. It was mostly sceptical of the support from
the communists to the War effort particularly in the context of when there was a
raging anti-colonial resistance by Indians all over the country. Thus, the unholy pact
struck between an alien power and an indigenous revolutionary force was so brittle
that trusting in or expecting a total allegiance to it was never considered realistic by
79
80
. DCECDM, pp.4-5
. K. Venugopal Reddy, Working Class in ‘Quit India Movement: Madras Presidency, 1942, Indian
HistoricalReview, SAGE publications, New Delhi, 2010, p. 284
133
either party. Therefore, the British authorities perceived that the communists in
Malabar were deemed to be 10 percent anti-Nazi and 90 per cent anti-British
government. And ‘Collectors generally find them intolerable friends of the
Government’.81The British government was therefore apprehensive that the
communists were using the lifting of ban to promote anti- British sentiments through
their public speeches. So,they were warned that those who offend the law would be
prosecuted ‘irrespective of the party they belong’. In the Malabar district, it further
concluded that ‘they appeared to have established people’s committees to get the
Government administration discredited and to make room for themselves as
controllers of the economic position’.82
Similarly, the colonial regime grew panic that the ‘Communists in the East
Godavari district are reported to be secretly obtaining signatures of labourers on a
memorandum issued by the Andhra Communist party condemning the measures taken
by the Government to combat the present movement. And in Guntur district, the
British authorities had complaints that the communists seemed to have done nothing
so far in aid of the War effort.83 On 1st November 1942, the Communists celebrated
Unity Week in Madras and Mohan Kumara Mangalam was the chief organiser.
Though he spoke calling for national unity in face of the menace from the Axis
powers, he had made ‘some intemperate attacks on the policy of the Government in
dealing with the Congress’. The Unity Week was also celebrated in certain other
districts also, especially Guntur, Salem and Coimbatore. But the colonial regime
concluded that ‘as reported already in spite of Anti-Fascist processions, the
Communists have done little tangible to help the War effort. It further was of the
view that Mohan Kumara Mangalam in his tour in the districts of South Arcot district,
Madura and Trichinopoly also agitated for the release of the Congress leaders and in
Trichinopoly, a considerable number of students and labourers had shown interest in
thespeeches.84
And in Ramnad district, communists were ‘said to be obtaining
signatures for a mass petition to the government to release the Congress leaders and
control the prices of food stuffs’.
81
. T.M. Thomas Isaac, ‘The National Movement and the Communist Party in Kerala’, Social
Scientist Journal, New Delhi, 1986, pp. 59-80
82
. F.R. for the First half of October 1942, TNA, Chennai
83
. F.R. for the Second half of October 1942, TNA, Chennai
84
. F.R. for the Second half of November 1942, TNA, Chennai
134
According to E.M.Shankaran Namboodiripad “it required a tremendous
amount of political conviction and courage to swim against the current of national
sentiment and openly take the international task as the main task.“Rival organisations
of every section of the people” became the slogan of the anti-communist section of
the national movement.
Thus, there emerged several organisations like Kerala
Congress Samiti, Garamaseva Sangham, Kerala Kisan Congress, Kerala Labour
Congress, Deseeya Mahila Samajam, Kerala Youth Congress, National Students
Organisation etc.85
(A) QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT IN ANDHRA
Congress leaders in Andhra were very much alive to the dangerous
consequences of the Japanese entry into the war. They feared that it might result in
their invasion of India. Asked about the defence of the country in such a contingency
Dr. Pattabhi Sitharamayya was emphatic as early as 21st December 1941, in stating
that it was only a free India that could effectively organise the defences. He observed:
“Is India my country? Let me be made to feel.I know nothing about its finances. I am
not told anything about it. I know nothing about its defence. I know nothing about
her land, aerial and naval forces. You say when the enemy comes to the door. “This
is your country; you protect it or are damned’. Even if I am not non-violent, I have no
weapons. A nation disarmed and kept in ignorance of the arts of peace and war
cannot be expected to feel interested in defence, because the nation would, in that
case. By defending the country for others and not for itself. No country can belong to
two nations. The country must belong to one nation or the other. When India belongs
to Indians they will defend India with violence or non-violence as they chose”.86This
was a forth-right declaration of the lines along which the All-India leadership chalked
out their attitude towards the defence for the country in the event of a Japanese attack.
Pattabhi’s views were prophetic. They contained the germs of the Quit India
Movement. In the early months of 1942 the Andhra Provincial Congress Committee
and the District and Taluk Committees were reconstituted. At the first meeting of the
Provincial Committee held on 8th March 1942, after the release of individual
satyagrahis Sri Prakasham exhorted the members to be alive to the probability of the
85
. M.G. Indira Devi, Kerala and the Quit India Movement, Mullasseril Publishers, Mundancavu,
Kerala, 2005, pp.115-117
86
. The Hindu, dated 23rd December 1941
135
country being overrun by one aggressor or the other and take steps to organise her
defences. Four regional directors were appointed for this purpose.87
During all this periods the organisation of the defence of the country was the
one subject which was uppermost in the minds of the leaders. At the Kavali Ryots’
Conference inaugurated by Sri Gopal Reddy and presided over by Sri C. Bali Reddy
resolutions were passed calling on people to set up People’s Protection Committees in
villages to preserve internal peace and order.88
The Bhimavaram Taluk Ryots’
th
Conference which met on 17 March passed a resolution disapproving the adoption of
the scorched-earth policy which the Government wanted to adopt in case of a
Japanese attack and suggested other measures for defending the country.89
Another question which agitated the Congress circles in Andhra was the
propaganda which was carried on by Sri C. Rajagopalachari in favour of conceding
the demand for Pakistan made by Jinnah and his Muslim League. Addressing a
meeting in Madras on May 31st, Sri Prakasam expressed the view that any proposal
for the division of the country would bring about her ruin.90 Several District Congress
Committees agreed with him and passed resolutions calling on the Congress
Committee to take disciplinary action against C.R. Sri Sambamurthi was the only
Andhra leader of eminence who shared the views of C. Rajagopalachari and when he
found no support for his stand among the other Congressmen he tendered his
resignation of the Speakership as well as the membership of the Madras Legislative
Assembly.91
The Andhra Provincial Congress Committee closely watched the political
developments which followed the failure of Cripps Mission and at its meeting held on
19th June 1942 accepted the resolutions passed by the Congress Working Committee
at Allahabad.92In fact there was at no time any divergence in the views of the
Provincial Committee from those of the High Command. Both organisations had
implicit faith in Gandhiji who shaped Congress policies whether he was within the
Congress or outside it.
87
. The Hindu, dated 10th March 1942
. The Hindu, dated 21st March 1942
89
. The Hindu, dated 21st March 1942
90
. The Hindu, dated 2nd June 1942
91
. The Hindu, dated 17th January 1942
92
. The Hindu, dated 22nd June 1942
88
136
Andhra leaders had no high hopes that the British would part with power
unless they were compelled to do so. This was clear from what V.V. Giri said when
the ban on Communists was lifted in the latter part of July 1942. “I quite agree with
the Communists in their antagonism to Nazism and fascism but I cannot understand
their unconditional support to the imperialist power which governs them, especially
when the power does not relax its hold in spite of the assurances from the greatest
national institution, the Congress, of full support in the present struggle of the United
Nations, provided a full responsible national government is conceded to India at the
present moment. Let not my communist friends are under the delusion that England
wants to part with power. Sir Stafford Cripps made it quite clear that even, if all the
parties joined together in their demand for defence being entrusted to a national
government England would refuse to concede it. In spite of these categorical
statements from statesmen of England if Communist friends consider that India’s war
is a people’s war, because Russia has joined it, then all that I can say is that they are
in a fool’s paradise. My sincere advice to Communist friends is that if they believe in
complete emancipation of the Indian working classes and in the establishment of fullfledged democracy in India, they should insist on the immediate establishment of a
national government fully responsible to the people of this country and support the
very reasonable demand made by the Congress in this behalf.”93Andhra leaders were
thus busy in shaping public opinion in favour of immediate grant of freedom.
Sri Giri was evidently referring to the Quit India resolution passed by the
Congress Working Committee at Wardha on 14th July 1942. Not only he but all
Congressmen in Andhra accepted it and they were of the view that it would be
confirmed at Bombay by the All India Congress Committee and that a war for
freedom was inevitable. Addressing the West Krishna District Congress Committee,
Kala Venkata Rao, the Secretary of the Provincial Committee, observed: “Life is
sweet but to lose one’s life in the cause of the freedom of one’s own country is
sweeter. I do not as yet know all the details of Mahatma Gandhi’s forthcoming
programme, but I know this much that every real worker in the cause of India’s
freedom must be prepared to suffer and even die in the coming two or three months.
So,I unplore you to be ready and prepared.” He further observed: “The Wardha
resolution of the Congress Working Committee is nothing but reason and in
93
. The Hindu, dated 25th July 1942
137
controvertible logic demanding the freedom of India. We are not only not out for any
form of violence but we deride its use in any form. ‘Quit India’ is not a slogan. It
represents in nine letters, the agony of the soul of India and it’s yearning for freedom.
Churchill’s, Hitler’s and Mussolini’s can conquer but Gandhiji alone can reconcile
this war-mad world through his great message of love and suffer for all”.94 It was
with this conviction in the justice of India’s cause of non-violence as an instrument in
achieving it that Andhra leaders engaged themselves in the weeks after Wardha in
preparing the Andhras for a fight to the finish.
Similar views on the Wardha resolution were expressed by Sri Prakasam. On
25th July he said: “It is now for Britain to avert the consequences of the launching of a
mass movement by conceding the national demand and not repeating the blunders she
had been committing since the outbreak of the war depending upon the advice of the
die-hard press, in regard to the defence of the countries under her control. It is up to
the United Nations to put their professions in respect of the war into practice in regard
to India here and now.”95 It is in this spirit that he and the other leaders appealed to
the people to join the war for the liberation of the country from alien rule.
It was not merely individual leaders that spoke of the inevitability of a
renewed mass struggle following the Bombay Session of the All-India Congress
Committee,District Congress Committees held the same view and they were engaged
in preparing plans for action when the call from Gandhiji might come. In the circular
which it issued to Taluk Congress Committees and other Congress organisations, the
Kurnool District Congress Committee observed on 30th July 1942: “Mahatmaji may
begin this Mass Civil Disobedience in the near future. This movement may, in all
probability be begun, a few hours after the close of the All India Congress Committee
meeting”.96As a result of the Wardha resolution, individual leaders as well as
organisations became active in taking all stepspreparatory for the renewal of another
struggle with British imperialism. This was to be the final struggle.
The loyalists were opposed to the move of the Congress. Sir K.V. Reddi
Nayudu, one of their leading spokesmen stated: “To any man of average intelligence,
the meaning of the (Wardha) resolution of the Congress Committee is quite clear.
94
. The Hindu, dated 25th July 1942
. The Hindu, dated 27th July 1942
96
. M.Venkata Rangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh (Andhra), Vol. IV, The Andhra
Pradesh State Committee, Hyderabad, 1974, p. 155
95
138
Simply it is a bid for power. We have remained subjects of foreign nations for
generations. Cannot we wait for a year or two more? Is it necessary to plunge India
into chaos and anarchy in the midst of a devastating world war? And yet that will
exactly be the result if the threat of the Congress is given effect to”.97Thus, the masses
were prepared for aFreedom fighters with the British.
It was not the intention of Gandhiji to start a war. He was anxious to carry on
negotiations with the Viceroy and to find through personal contact a way out of the
impasse. He was essentially a man of peace. But neither the Viceroy nor the
authorities in Britain were in a mood to enter into discussion. Nor did they give time
to him or to the front rank leaders of the Congress to give instructions to their
followers how a non-violent mass struggle which alone they contemplated should be
carried on. Their behaviour was appropriately compared to the bombing of the Pearl
Harbour by the Japanese on 7th December 1941 before war was declared by the
enemy or by themselves.98
It was the intention of the leaders in Andhra that the fight should not begin
unless and until a clear call for it came from Gandhiji. As the Kurnool Circular put
it:“Immediately after Mahatmaji gives the order, the civil disobedience movement
must be begun. German ‘Blitz Krieg”, must be followed. But the most important
warning is that the movement should not be begun before Mahatmaji gives the order.
If any such thing is done, it will be a great blunder. The workers will be held
responsible for this. Preparedness without undue haste is most important. Perhaps
there might be a compromise between the Government and the Congress and the
Congress and there might be no necessity for this movement. This warning should
not be forgotten.”99But the precipitate action taken by Government completely upset
the programme of non-violent war. Gandhiji was given no opportunity to issue
instructions to his followers.
It was this that was responsible for whatever violence there was in the
movement that followed. “The people simply grew desperate. The sudden removal
of the leaders of the nation, All-India, Provincial, district, Taluk and Firka, left in the
first place no responsible men or women to guide popular activities.
97
. The Hindu, dated 27th July 1942
. B. Pattabhi Sitharamayya: The History of the Indian National Congress, Volume.II, pp.353
99
. M.Venkata Rangaiya, n. 96, p. 156
98
139
If
theGovernment thereby thought the movement would be nipped in the bud or would
die of inanition and disappear in a week or fortnight, they soon realized(?) their undue
optimism. The people grew insensate and were maddened with fury, when the
slightest acts of disobedience of orders prohibiting meetings, processions and
demonstrations, freedom of association and opinion, were put down, not with a mere
lathi but with the rifle and the revolver, with the machine gun and aerial firing”.100
The few Congressmen who were able to return to their respective places within a few
days after the All India Congress Committee Session gave harrowing tales of what
they personally witnessed in Bombay to their countrymen in different parts of
Andhra. They said: “On the 9th and 10th instant, when we were in Bombay we were
personal witnesses to the insane and brute rule of the Government which resulted in
human beings killed like ants and flies. Though the Government disconnected
telephone wires early before dawn on the 9th and took elaborate precautions to effect
the arrest of Mahatmaji and other leaders in utter secrecy, still within a few minutes
the news spread with wireless speed and threw the city in agony, excitement and
bitterness. The people congregated in thousand and lakhs. Everywhere the vast sea
of human heads could be discerned. Immediately, the Government put in motion their
machinery of repression on a gigantic and pre-arranged scale. Within the space of
two or three hours the police lathi charged or tear gassed the people in nearly 80
places and when they refused, the Military was called in to take the place of the Police
and shoot down people without previous orders and even without discretion or
necessity.
They were instructed not to waver. The object was to terrorise the
population even at the outset …..Lady Volunteers guarding the buildings were beaten,
kicked and dishonoured”.101 Publicity was given to happenings like these with the
result that the masses grew infuriated beyond limits. It is against this general
psychological background that one has to review the actual course of events.
Since the struggle which began in August, 1942 was looked upon as a fight to
the finish Congressmen in Andhra took care to draw an elaborate plan of action. It
emphasized the supreme importance of the principle of non-violence. The Kurnool
Circular laid down thus: “This movement is based on the spirit of non-violence, No
established law should be violated in contravention of this first rule”. This was
100
101
. B. Pattabhi Sitharamayya, n. 98, pp.373
. M.Venkata Rangaiya, n. 96, p. 157
140
repeated in more than one place in the circular. A long list of actions which would be
in conformity with such a principle was drawn up. They included the fomenting of
labour strikes, the pulling of alarm chains in railway compartments, travelling in them
without tickets and the cutting off of telephone and telegraph wires.
Instructions were given that the movement should proceed stage by stage
through six stages. The first was to consist of disobedience of prohibitory orders, the
preparation of contraband salt, and moving openly as members of unlawful
associations. The final stage was to be characterised by the non-payment of taxes
excepting municipal taxes, the picketing of recruitment offices and of sepoy
battalions, and the hoisting of Congress flags on Government buildings as a sign of
Congress victory. What should be done in the intermediary stages was laid down in
great detail.
It was understood that all categories of people should be invited to participate
in the movement. “There should be no distinction between a Congressite and a noncongressite. The rule that one should wear Khaddar and spin thread is given up.” It
was to be a mass revolt.
One special feature of the plan of action was the emphasis it placed on
paralysing all means of communication and the machinery of administration. India
was drawn into an imperialist war against her consent and everything short of
violence should therefore be done, it was argued, to impede the war effort. It is this
which explains why the people took to cutting telephone and telegraph wires, attacked
railways, railway stations, post-offices and other Government offices.
This was
considered to be the most effective means for bringing the administrationto a half.
The whole movement was a spontaneous one People participated in it even
though they were leaderless. It was also a movement in which all districts and all
categories of people participated. It specially attracted the youthand among them the
students into its fold. There were more strikes of students in 1942 than on previous
occasions.
To counter the movement Government was ready with its master plan. Soon
after the Wardha meeting of the Working Committee, Sir Frederick Pickle, Secretary
to Government of India, issued his notorious circular giving detailed instructions to
141
local officials to carry on counter-propaganda against the Congress line of action.102
By 8th August, Government was ready with “their prisons and police, their prohibitory
orders and ordinances, their guns and gunpowder- all to put down a movement that
would not be inaugurated and punish people who did not transgress the law.” Strict
censorship was exercised over the Press so that people might be kept ignorant of the
course of development of the movement in the various parts of the country.
News of the arrests in Bombay of the leaders reached several places in Andhra
th
on 9 August. On the next and following days meetings were held in all the districts
in defiance of prohibitory orders and the action of Government was severely
condemned. Processions were also taken out and demonstrations organised. Shops
were closed even though the Government promulgated a new rule that the police
would use force to keep open such shops and arrange for the sale of goods found in
them. As of old there was the picketing of toddy shops and shops dealing in foreign
cloth. The manufacture of contraband salt was undertaken in a number of centres.
Government divided all the important congress leaders in Andhra into two
classes and placed ten in class I and twelve in class II. (In Class I was included:
Pattabhi Sitharamayya, Prakasham, Konda Venkatappaiah, K. Koti Reddi, N. Sanjiva
Reddy, M. Pallam Raju, Ananthasayanam Ayyangar, V. Sankara Reddy, D. Rama
Subba Reddy and H. Sitharama Reddi. In Class II were included: Kala Venkata Rao,
Tenneti Viswanatham, Maganti Bapineedu, Dandu Narayana Raju, Marupilli Chitti,
Pothina Ganapathi Rao, Vennalakanti Raghavayya, Oruganti Venaktasubbaiah, G.
Venkata Reddy of Nandyal, Kalluri Subba Rao, N. G. Ranga and A. Kaleswara Rao).
One by one, these and several others were taken into custody and sent to various
jails.103 The number so dealt with increased gradually. In many cases no charges
could be framed against them. The only grounds put forward for arresting them were
that they were rich, occupied a high status, enjoyed local influence and were in a
position to undertake activities prejudicial to the interests of Government if allowed to
be free.
Action was taken against a number of people on the ground that they indulged
inacts of sabotage, dissuaded people from joining the army, carried on propaganda
calling on government servants in general and the police in particular to resign their
102
103
. B. Pattabhi Sitharamayya., n. 98, pp.359-364
. G.O. No. 3507, Public (General) Confidential, dated 30th October 1942
142
jobs, organised strikes of students and labourers, circulated leaflets inviting people to
participate in the movement or describing its progress, cut down of date and Palmyra
trees, picketed government offices, courts of justice and the residences of practising
lawyers, pasted wall-posters asking people not to pay taxes and not to rent buildings
to government servants, started forest activities. There was considerable truth in the
charges thus levelled. Acts of sabotage like cutting telephone and telegraph wires,
tampering with railway tracks and road transport, and causing damage to railway
stations, police stations, offices where administrative work was carried and to
government property in general formed part of the programme of non-violent war.
But it so happened that in many cases persons were sent to prisons on mere suspicion.
Although the Congress plan contemplated action in one stage after another and
also action on strictly non-violent lines the masses who participated in the fight did
not strictly adhere to the instructions laid down. Irritated by the policy of terrorism
pursued by Government and the repressive measures adopted by it they skipped over
the earlier stages and started with causing damage to the means of communication and
transport. It should, however, be noted that though this led to the destruction of
property care was taken to see that there was no loss of life. Even when railways
were attacked, passengers were given time and facilities to get down from their
compartments.
It is neither necessary nor possible to give an account of all the incidents
which happened in Andhra during the fight. They were all of them of the kind referred
to in the Andhra and Kurnool circulars. A few of them, however, attracted wide
attention at the time and they may be referred to here.
Quit India Movement: Role of Telugu Literature
On 8th August 1942, the Congress passed the Quit India resolution. This
movement was started under Gandhiji’s leadership. Gandhiji gave a mantra to the
Congress Volunteers “Do or Die”. At the same time the Muslim League started “Quit
and go”. A lot of literaturewas published on the national movement and the Quit
India Movement was no exception.
143
Sri Yadavathi Kotahari in his poem “Vaddhura Manaki Vaddhura” wrote
thus.104
“We don’t want foreign rule,
Let us stick to the Quit India Resolution
There were many Political parties,
Don’t believe them, they will only ruin us”.
Sri Samba Siva Rao Babji in his poem “August Viplava Jwala” (August
Revolutionary Fire) wrote thus.105
“Many lost their lives in these agitations
Many lost their hearts in these agitations
Many lost their near and dear in these agitations
You, young Indians,
Have you heard of
Our great leaders history and
Of August revolution?
You may lose your life for the sake of India.
Independence flame is spreading widely and touching the sky,
Men and women, young and old lost their lives in these flames.”
During the Quit India Movement, many Indians lost their lives-949 Indians
and 39 of them from Andhra. The poet Kasi Viswanatham wrote under Psendonyur
his pen name “Nathuru Kalam”- the songs of August. He says:
“You may be hurt
Police may hit you with their lathis
Your body might have got wounded
But don’t lose courage.
You march to get independence.
Come fast in this independent march,
‘Do or Die’ for independence.
104
. Gurajada Raghava Sarma, Telugu Jateeya Geethalu (Telugu)-A.P. Sahitya Academy, Hyderabad,
1973, p. 311
105
. Gurajada Raghava Sarma, n. 104, p. 413
144
I became famous because
I became a victim of
British arms and ammunition.”106
Sri Bhagavantha Rao, Mikkilineni’s “Vidyarthula Veera Geyalu” was written
on those students who lost their lives during Quit India Movement in Andhra, Tenali
Railway station incident on which the poet wrote this poem.
You bought laurels for our freedom struggle
You used arms against the alien rule
It is your country and for your country
You sacrificed your life for the sake of your country.107
There was a protest procession against August detention in October 1946 by
the students of Tenali under Congress. Sri Thenneti Suri wrote a poem “Aruna
Rekhalu” on these students and their participation. Here he warns to the Britishers
and wrote thus:
“You leave the country
No longer can you construct your houses here
Don’t loot Indians
Go back to your country.”108
Karuna Sri Jandhyala Papayya Sastry wrote another poem “Aruna Kiranalu”
in those years. Here reveals the crooked nature of Britishers and the way they looted
Indians. The Quit India Movement coincides with Netaji’s Azad Hind Fauz. Bose’s
fight against the British was well-depicted by the writers and poets. Karunasri asks
Indians to participate in the last phase of freedom movement to show their respect to
our national flag.
Sri Pilla Venkata Ratna Kiran wrote on August Revolution. They are nearly
five thousand but the complete works was not published immediately because of lack
of finance. But in 1958, he was able to publish a part of it. It showed the pathetic
condition of Indians.
106
. Dr. Satyanarayana, Telugulo Udhyama Geethalu (Telugu), Visalandhra, 1991, p. 138
. Dr. Satyanarayana, n. 106, p. 139
108
. Dr. Subba Reddy, M., Telugulo Jateeya Udhyama Kavitwamu, (Telugu), University Book Centre,
1982, p. 276
107
145
Sri Subbarama Sastry, Pydipati started writing from 1941 onwards. In 1942
he wrote “Desam”. Here he stressed why we should get independence.
To eat our stomach full
To dress ourselves full
We will enjoy
Then we will distribute
This to others liberally
That shows our broad mindedness.
Kasi Viswanatham’s marching song on the Quit India Movement attracted
many students. He says:
“Let us hoist flag-get victory
Let us leave slavery by showing our patriotism
For the sake of liberty-let us sacrifice our lives.”109
In another poem “Nene”
I am the hero of August
August revolution is mine
With “Quit India” slogan
I will move into the streets
“Karo ya Maro” I will shout
And move all along
I don’t want to live like
A slave, I am
Prepared to die which is better
Let me decide “Do or Die”.110
109
110
. Dr. Subba Reddy, M., n. 108, p. 271
. Dr. Subba Reddy, M., n. 108, p. 273
146
Sri Venkata Subbayya Vaijand wrote “Ryot Congress Geyalu” (1946), a set of
propagating and inspired songs. All these poems show literary merit. And were
addressed to the masses.
Sri Thennati Suri wrote a poem ‘Quit India’. He says:
You leave your houses
Early in the morning
Time is over for looting
We have awakened.111
Sri Vanamalai Varadhachari wrote:
You foreigners leave us
This India is our India
Listen listen, all the Indians.112
Sir Nagabhushana Rao says about the Quit India Movement in his poetry
“Swathanthra Sangramam”.
“How long are we going to live in this slavery?
‘Do or Die’! Decided-let us participated and go forward.
They looted us-everything is scarcity food, clothing and shelter.
This is all because of British rule”.113
Sri Gollapalli Kotesh wrote:
“We don’t want foreign rule
We will stick to the Quit India resolution
There were many political parties
Don’t believe them-they will only ruin you
They lead to clashes –you will be cheated
We have only one political party i.e., Congress
111
. Dr. Subba Reddy, M., n. 108, p. 276
. Gurajada Raghava Sarma, n. 104, p. 61
113
. Gurajada Raghava Sarma, n. 104, p. 304
112
147
We have only one tri-colour flag
We have only one leader i.e., Gandhi
Say loudly “Jai Mahatma”.
During the days of Salt Satyagraha, there was a lot of literary production.
Though it was at a low during 1930-32, it reached its peak during 1932-35. So, also
during the Quit India Movement, the whole India was active and awakened. Here too,
between 1942-44 there was a lot of literary activity.
The Tenali Disturbances
On the 12th August 1942, the town of Tenali observed a complete Hartal as a
protest against the arrest of the Congress leaders. The students of the Tenali Taluq
High School and the Bharat Tutorial College, Tenali, convened a meeting on the night
of the 11th August and on the instigation of Kottamasu Mohan Rao, Kaganti
Venkataramayya, Dachepalli Subba Rao and Kolli Prasad, all students of the Taluq
High School, decided to boycott the schools in the town and to see that a complete
Hartal on the 12th August was observed by the closure of shops, hotels and other
business concerns.114 On the same night the Congress workers under the leadership of
Kalluri Chandramouli also decided to observe a complete Hartal on 12th August 1942
and this decision was communicated to all the shop-keepers and hotel proprietors. On
the morning of 12th August 1942, batches of Congress volunteers and students went
round the streets of Tenali to see that all the shop owners observed the Hartal.
Some people, who were accustomed to taking their morning coffee in hotels,
finding that the hotels were closed, went to the Railway Refreshment Room at the
Tenali Railway Station and took their coffee there. When the students and Congress
volunteers heard about this they marched from Morrispet to the railway station and
demanded that the Railway Refreshment room should be closed. The Manager of the
Refreshment Room refused to close down the refreshment room without the orders of
the Railway authorities. In the meanwhile, the Guntur bound train was about to leave
the station. So, one section of the crowd demanded from the Station Master to stop
the train from leaving the station and not to issue the tickets. Inspite of their insistence
the Station Master moved the train up to the North Cabin of Tenali station, when
114
. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh, The ministry of Cultural
Affairs, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1972, p. 150
148
another section of the crowd rushed to the signal post and destroyed it. The crowd
also attacked the engine driver and stoned him, upon which he left the train and ran
away. The compartments of the train were completely smashed. The crowd tried to
set fire to the Railway Station by pouring kerosene over the building. They also
wanted to set fire to the Booking Office which was forcibly opened by them. The
books, records and currency were destroyed while the staff in-charge of the office
fled. Another train from Madras was stopped by the crowd and after destroying the
signals of the South Cabin assaulted the engine driver. By this time the Reserve
police from Guntur arrived, accompanied by the District Collector and the Police
Superintendent. The crowd started moving towards the Morrispet bus stand. The
Tenali Deputy Superintendent of Police brought along with him an individual by
name Chintamaneni Sivaramayya who was anti-Congress and was working as an
agent of the Government and another by name Prayaga Veeraraghavaiah who began
to tell the crowd that the police would open fire if they would not disperse. The
crowd on seeing Sivaramayya got infuriated and demanded that he should be asked to
leave before they dispersed from the railway station. Thereupon, the police opened
fire and in this firing three people were killed, namely Bhaskaruni Lakshminarayana,
Majeti Subbarao and Sripathi Panditaradhyula Srigiri Rao.Prayaga Veera Raghavaiah
was also killed in the firing while five others who received wounds in the firing died
later in the hospital. Among them were Jasti Appayya, Ammineni Subba Reddy, Gali
Rama Kotayya. The Crowd dispersed only after the firing was stopped. The damage
to railway property was estimated at Rs.2,50,000/-.115
On the same day aprocession of 500 students marched to the Court of the SubMagistrate in Chirala, threatened him and asked him to close the court.After causing
damage to the building the crowd raided the offices of the Sub-Registrar and the Sales
Tax Officer and then stoned the police station. The procession then went to the
Railway Station when the down passenger was entering the platform. A crowd of
1,500 attacked the Station from all sides and the communication chain was pulled four
times. After the departure of the train the crowd attacked the cabin and cut the
telephone and signal wires. They, then set fire to the station building. With great
difficulty the police saved the goods-shed from being set fire. They next threatened
the staff and asked them not to interfere on pain of death. They also threatened a
115
. M.Venkata Rangaiya, n. 96, p. 161
149
Military Recruiting Officer and the Railway Permanent Way Officer travelling in a
trolly and are said to have insisted on their uttering ‘Gandhiji-ki-jai’. They dispersed
only after the arrival of the police and the civic guards. The damage caused was
estimated at Rs.1,00,000.116
Guntur Firings
On 13thAugust, a crowd of 2,000, consisting mostly of students, gathering in
front of the Hindu College, Guntur. They were accused of stone throwing at the cars
passing by and at the police. The latter tried to disperse them with a lathi charge but
this produced little effect. A number of them then proceeded towards the Gandhi
Park opposite. The police followed them. Suddenly they opened fire as a result of
which several among those who were merely listening to the radio programme in the
park were wounded and two persons died instantaneously. The firing caused
considerable commotion in the town as there was no justification for it. The Bar
Association held a meeting at which resolutions were passed strongly condemning the
action of the authorities. Educational institutions were closed for a week to prevent
the situation from worsening.117
On the night of 12th August 1942, an attempt was made to cut the telephone
wires between Dowleswaram and Rajahmundry by youngsters, Bommakanti Venkata
Subramanyam, Chekuri Veera Raghava Swamy (Student), Chekuri Venkata Rayudu,
G. Sathi Raju, K. Rama Krishna Rao, T.V. Venkanna, V. Seetharaman and K.V.
Seetharama Sastry of Rajahmundry. All of them arrested when they were interfering
with the telephone communications and were awarded 18 months Rigorous
Imprisonment each by the Joint Magistrate, Rajahmundry.118
The burning of the records of Atthili railway station was the first one in the
long list of violent incidents that erupted in West Godavari District in the wake of
political agitation of August 1942. Maganti Chakrapani organised secret meeting on
9th August 1942, at Satyawada and instigated the people to the acts of sabotage. The
result was that the following night some railway telephone wires were cut near
Satyawada. On 15th August 1942, Maganti Chakrapani and Andhra Bhisma Paduri
116
. District Calender of events of the Civil Disobedience Movement, 1942, Published by the
Government of Madras, p. 54
117
. The Hindu, dated 17th August 1942 and 18th August 1942
118
. V. Narasimha Murthy, National Movement and peoples participation: A Case study of East
Godavari District, 1920-47, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, 2003
150
Perraju, D.C.C. President (acting), a veteran Congress leader organised a meeting at
Attili where about 1,200 people had gathered including about 400 students of Tanuku
High School, who had travelled from Tanuku to Attili by train without purchasing
tickets.119
On 12th August 1942, telephone wires were cut between Palacole,
Lankalacoderu, Bhimavaram and Vendra. On the night of 17th August 1942, at about
11:10 P.M. under the leadership of Inakakulika Sivarama Raju, Chokkakula
Venkanna, Seepani Ramana, Katta Venkataswami, a mob of about 200 persons armed
with lathis, marched on the railway station at Undi and burnt the records and furniture
and destroyed the block instruments and the telegraph sounder. Then broke open the
gangman’s box and removed some rails between Undi and Akiveedu. On the night of
22nd August, a group of 150 people burnt the Denduluru Railway station with loud
cries Gandhi-ki-Jai.
The students of Nellore reacted to the arrest of Gandhi by boycotting classes
for one week. On 12th and 13th August they took out processions in the streets of
Nellore town and damaged electric lights on the streets and destroyed telephones and
signal equipment in the railway station.120 At Kavali the Head Master’s room of the
local Board High School was set on fire. In Venkatagiri Raja College, Nellore, the
Principle hoisted the national flag and Gurram Subbaramaiah, clad in Khaddar cloths,
addressed the students. All the hotels and shops in the Trunk Road were closed and
hartal was observed. At Pallipadu and Talamanchi also Independence Day was
celebrated on 26th January 1943.121
Bhimavaram Firings
On the 17th August 1942 Gokaraju Sriramaraju, Gottumukkala Ramachandra
Raju, Ayyagari Subbarayudu and Kapilajogi Jagannatha Rao organised a meeting in
which more than 2,000 people participated. At the meeting, it was decided that the
students should boycott schools and the local U.L.C.M. School should be closed
down. When the school authorities refused to close down the school, the students
broke the desks and chairs in the school building with the result that the school had to
be closed. Then they started ina procession towards the main road where they were
joined by Vegesina Narayana Raju, Pedda Subbarajulu and Bhoopathi Raju Subba
119
. The Hindu, dated 21st August 1942
. Zamin Ryot, 14th August 1942
121
. Zamin Ryot, 29th January 1943
120
151
Raju and all of them arrived before the Revenue Divisional Office. The Revenue
Divisional Officer close the doors of his Office but the crowd forced open the doors
and insisted that the Divisional officer should resign his job. Then dragging him out
of his Office they forced him to hold a Congress flag in his hand and made him march
some distance with them. Then suddenly the idea seems to have struck the crowd that
the Magistrate’s Office should be burnt. So, they went and set fire to the Officeof the
Divisional Officer as well as to the building of the Deputy Inspector of Schools.
From there they went to the Collector’s Office. Seeing the crowd approaching the
Collectorate, the Collector and his staff came out.
The crowd insisted that the
Collector should resign from his office and also made him hold a Congress flag. Then
Gokaraju Venkatapathi Raju hoisted a Congress flag on the Collector’s Office. The
records in the office were burnt. From there they proceeded towards the police station
where the police opened fire on them. While the firing was going on, a section of the
crowd went and set fire to the police lines. Inthe firing four people died, among them
were Gottumukkala Balarama Raju, a student aged about 17 years and Vegesina
Narayana Raju.122 A section of the crowd marched also towards the Railway Station
and set fire to a railway trolly while some other attacked the Sivaraopet station and
burnt it down.
Kandhala Subrahmanym, alias Tilak, took part in the Quit India Movement
and served jail sentence. He got elected to the First Lok Sabha with highest percent
of Votes (1.80 lakhs) on Socialist Party ticket. All other opponents including
Congress Candidate forfeited their deposits. Ofthe 499 Lok Sabha Members, after
Pandit Nehru, Ravi Narayana Reddy, K. Subrahmanyam got third highest percent of
Votes polled in the elections. By 13 May2012, the Lok Sabha conducted 60 years of
its existence. On this occasion, the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mrs Meera Kumar announced
the three serviving first Lok Sabha members. Sri K. Subrahmanyam is one of those
three. The other two are, Rishang Keishing (91) and Resham Lal Jangde(87).123
Burning of Pentapadu Post Office
At Pentapadu, near Tadepalligudem, the people hearing about the death of
Mahadev Desai held a condolence meeting on the 17th August. Then later they set
122
123
. Sarojini Regani, n. 114, p. 154
. Enadu,(Tirupati), 12 May 2012, pp.1-2.
152
fire to the Pentapadu post office. The police not only made a severe lathi-charge on
the crowd and also arrested several people.
Government took the view that fines should be collected only from such of the
residents as belonged to the land-owning community and the communities of Vysyas,
Brahmins and the intelligentsia.
Muslims, Harijans and Backward Classes like
Washermen and barbers were exempted from paying them, though the officials knew
that members of these communities participated in rioting in places like Tenali.124
Collective fines were imposed in seven of the ten districts of Andhra. They
were Anantapur, Kadapa, West Godavari, Guntur, Krishna, Kurnool and Nellore. The
districts of Chittoor, East Godavari and Vizagapatnam escaped from them. The
highest amount of Rs.321,681 was collected in Guntur district. West Godavari came
next with Rs.248,285. The lowest amount of Rs.500 was collected from Nellore.
With reference to Quit India Movement Gandhiji stated that those who
participated in it should not think of courting imprisonment. “Keep jails out of your
consideration. If the Government keepers free me, I will spare you the trouble of
filling the jails. I will not put on the Government the strain of maintaining a larger
number of prisoners at a time when it is in trouble”. It was his view that in carrying
on the struggle the Congressmen had more work to do outside jails than inside them.
Government was also not in a mood to send to prison an unnecessarily large
number of persons. In a letter dated 17th September 1942 addressed by the head of the
special branch of the police to Government it was stated: “From the press and the
other reports available to the special branch it appears that a large number of arrests of
fairly insignificant Congressmen or of Congress sympathisers is going on with the
inevitable result that the jails will in a short time be overcrowded…. It is suggested
that Government should consider whether instructions to district magistrates should
not issue directing the use of fines in connection with minor personages reserving the
privilege of jail to Congress leaders proper….The rendering harmless of one leader is
worth the arrest of twenty insignificant creatures.” Government acted on this
suggestion and sent the necessary instructions to magistrates.
Factors like these explain why the number who voluntarily courted
imprisonment or who were sentenced to imprisonment was in 1942 not in proportion
124
. For illustaration see document Nos.140 and 141
153
to the intensity with which the struggle was carried on. The total number of persons
taken into custody as detenues by the end of 1942 was 142 and those convicted were
to 640. Of the detenues, Guntur and West Godavari contributed 27 and 17 while
among the convicted 153 were from Guntur, and 175 from West Godavari.
The struggle was at its height in August and the first half of September. It
then lost its tempo though it was not abandoned. Those who participated in it felt that
the cause for which they were fighting was a just one and it was remembered the
mantra “Do or Die”, given to them by Gandhiji. They therefore continued the struggle
not only through 1942 but also in 1943.
The broad pattern which the struggle followed in 1943 was more or less the
same as in 1942. The emphasis continued to be on cutting off means of
communication and transport. There were however some developments which had no
political significance or which had nothing to do with the freedom fight or the
freedom fighters, though they frightened the Government to some extent. One was
“the increase in the use of explosives which until then was comparatively rare in the
province”. In the second half of January there was an explosion in the railway goods
shed in Guntur. Another bomb also exploded in a room in a Cafe in Ongole.125 Both
these led to several house searches which did not produce any fruitful results. Late in
the year some country bombs and a pistol were found buried in a canal bund in
Bezawada.126But there was no indication of any wide spread terrorist movement in the
area anywhere. Another development was the throwing of combustibles into post
boxes with a view to set fire to their contents. Though the police got alarmed in
consequence of activities like these they had little importance from the political point
of view. A third development was the frequent theft of railway keys in large numbers
especially in the districts of Nellore, Guntur and Kadapa. Government, however,
came to the conclusion that it was mostly the work of blacksmiths who were in search
of scrap metal at a time when its price was daily on the increase and that it had
nothing to do with the Civil Disobedience movement.127
In spite of the slackening of the tempo of the freedom movement and in spite
of the frequent statements made by Government itself that there was a lull in Congress
125
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 6th February 1943
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 21st December 1943
127
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 26th February 1943
126
154
activities it did not abandon its policy of repression. As a matter of fact it became
more vindictive and callous in 1943 than in 1942. Detenues continued to be taken
into custody in large numbers. Many of them were kept in jails even after the expiry
of their original term of imprisonment. The same policy was pursued in regard to
several political prisoners. Severe action was taken against some on the ground that
they were “sincere Congressmen”. Action was also takenagainst several others on the
ground that they trained volunteers to carry on propaganda in villages, that they
secretly circulated pamphlets advocating a no-tax campaign, or that they indulged in
subversive activities. All this was in addition to the usual orders prohibiting meetings
and demonstrations.
Government placed various obstacles in the way of the celebration of the
Independence Day on January 26th, which was an annual event solemnly observed in
the country since 1920. It issued general instructions to local officials that they
should be especially vigilant on that day.128Orders were issued prohibiting the
celebration in several places. Leaders who were outside jails were also prohibited in
some cases from participating in the celebration where it was held. Several were
arrested for taking part in it as many as thirty six in Guntur.129All the same the day
was celebrated in most places. Large processions consisting mostly of students were
taken out and demonstrations were organised.
The indifference of Government to public opinion and its callousness were
most evident during the days when Gandhiji undertook his epic fast which lasted from
February 10th to March 3rd. In the communiques issued form time ot time from 8th
August 1942 Government accused Gandhiji of having contemplated a violent
rebellion and of having been responsible for the various acts of violence in the
country in August and September.
In repudiation of these charges which were
entirely baseless, Gandhiji addressed on September 23rd 1942 a letter to the
Secretary,Government of India and he gave it in his personal reaction to the
happenings in the country.130“In spite of the chorus of approval sung by the Indian
councillors and others, of the Government policy in dealing with the Congress, I
venture to assert that had the Government but awaited at least my contemplated letter
to H.E. the viceroy and the result thereafter, no calamity would have overtaken the
128
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 25th January 1943
. The Hindu, dated 30th January 1943
130
. The Hindu, dated 30th January 1943
129
155
country.
The reported deplorable destruction would have most certainly been
avoided. In spite of all that has been said to the contrary. I claim that the Congress
policy still remains unequivocally non-violent. The wholesale arrests of Congress
leaders seemed to have made the people wile with rage to the point of losing selfcontrol.
I feel that the Government, not the Congress are responsible for the
destruction that has taken place. The only right course for the Government seems to
me to be to release the leaders, to withdraw all repressive measures and explore ways
and means of conciliation. Surely the Government have ample resources to deal with
any overt act of violence. Repression can only breed discontent and bitterness”.
It was the considered opinion of leaders like C. Rajagopalachari and Sir Tej
Bahadur Sapru that if Gandhiji’s letter had been immediately published, the public
would have realized that “the Mahatma’s loyalty to the doctrine of non-violence was
as strong as before” and that it would have effectively stopped the violence that
spread throughout the country.131Government however, did not choose to give
publicity to the letter. On the other hand it went on repeating the charges against
Gandhiji.
This was an intolerable situation. Though several letters passed during the
following months between Gandhiji and the Viceroy, the latter adhered to the stand
which he originally took. How to convince him and the world of the purity of his
motives and the justice of the plan of action on which he wanted to embark when the
Congress Committee passed its “Quit India” resolution on 8th August 1942- this was
the one question which agitated Gandhiji’s mind all these months. It was by
undertaking a “fast unto capacity” that he decided to give an answer to the question.
He made this clear in the letter dated 7th February 1943 which he addressed to the
Viceroy. After replying to all the charges levelled against him, he concluded: “I have
not attempted an exhaustive reply to the views and the statements attributed to me.
This is neither the place nor the time for such reply. I have only picked out those
things which in my opinion demanded an immediate answer. You have left me no
loophole forescaping the ordeal I have set before for myself. I begin it on the 9th
instant (?) with the clearest possible conscience. Despite of your description of it as a
‘form of political blackmail’, it is on my part meant to be an appeal to the Highest
Tribunal for justice which I have failed to secure from you. If, I do not survive the
131
. B. Pattabhi Sitharamayya, n. 98, pp.470 and 486
156
ordeal, I shall go to the judgment seat with the fullest faith in my innocence. Posterity
will judge between you as representative of an all-powerful government and me as a
humble man who had tried to serve his country and humanity through it”.132 This was
the only answer which a saint could give to a politician.
The fast began on 10th February, Government reaction to it was its publication
of abooklet entitled “Congress Responsibility for the Disturbances” in which it
repeated once again the old charges as if to add insult to injury. It refused to pay any
heed to the appeals made by non-party leaders in the country for the unconditional
release of Gandhiji and starting negotiations with him. The Government of Madras
called upon the newspapers not to give publicity to events connected with the fast. It
dealt severely with those who condemned its callousness.
Like other parts of the country, Andhra passed through a period of deep
anxiety during the days of the fast.133Every one asked one-self whether Gandhiji at his
age of seventy-four would be able to stand the strain ofathree weeks fast. Many,
including students of both sexes undertook sympathetic fast. There were hartals in
many places. Processions were taken out and demonstrations organised. Government
was not in a mood to tolerate such a display of loyalty to Gandhiji. At Madanapallea
lathi charge was ordered on a procession mostly of students as a result of which
twenty-five were injured.134Bar Associations of merchants, students, agricultural
labourers, Harijans, Ryots and women held meetings and passed resolutions
demanding Gandhiji’s release.135 All this was an expression of the people’s devotionspontaneous and universal-to Gandhiji.
Government, however, was determined not to be moved. It was quite adamant
in its attitude towards him and the Congress. Even the resignation of three of the
Indian members of the Viceroy’s Executive Council produced no effect on it. To the
appeal made by the non-party leader’s conference, Churchill, the British Prime
Minister’s reply was: “The Government of India decided last August that Mr. Gandhi
and leaders of the Congress must be detained for reasons which have been fully
explained and are well understood. The reasons for that decision have not ceased to
exist and his Majesty’s Government endorse the determination for the Government of
132
. T.G. Tendulkar, Mahatma, Volume VI, p. 195
. M.Venkata Rangaiya, n. 96, p. 170
134
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 8th March 1943
135
. The Hindu, dated 26th February 1943
133
157
India not to beaffected from their duty towards the people’s of India and of the United
Nations by Mr. Gandhiji’s attempt to secure his unconditional release by fasting. The
first dutyof the Government of India and of His Majesty’s Government is to defend
the soil of India from invasion by which it is still menaced and to enable India to play
her part in the general cause of the United Nations. There can be no justification of
discriminating between Gandhiji and other Congress leaders. The responsibility,
therefore, entirely rests with Mr. Gandhi himself”.136 It was most undignified on the
part of a person of Churchill’s eminence to suggest that Gandhiji undertook the fast to
secure his unconditional release.
Luckily, Gandhiji was able to survive the ordeal. On 3rd March, he broke the
fast. “At nine in the morning the inmates of Aga Khan Palace (where he was kept a
prisoner) sang ‘Vaishnava Janato’ and stanzas from Gitanjali and ‘Lead Kindly
Light’. Portions from the Gita and Koran were also recited. Mrs. Naidu then recited
Tagore’s poem ‘This my prayer to meet my Lord’. At 9:30 the ceremony was over.
Kasturibai handed Gandhi a glass containing six ounces of orange juice diluted with
water. He took twenty minutes to sip the juice.”137The whole country was relieved of
the anxiety which had overtaken her for three weeks.
It was the time for holding the annual conference of Andhra Maha Sabha. The
venue chosen was Rajahmandry and the organisers applied to the District Magistrate
for permission to hold it. He refused permission “as he was of the opinion that this
would be an opportunity for Congressmen to collect from the various districts and this
might be dangerous especially in view of Mr. Gandhiji’s fast.”138It took several weeks
for the organisers to convince the authorities that the Mahasabha had nothing to do
with the Congress or the Quit India Movement. Ultimately permission was granted to
hold the conference at Bazawada “on the understanding that political discussions
should be restricted as far as possible to the demand for a separate Andhra
Province”.139 So, prejudiced were the authorities in those days against the Congress
and Congressmen.
Among the other eventsof importance in Andhra in 1943 was the observation
of the anniversary of the arrest of Gandhiji and other national leaders on 9th August.In
136
. The Hindu, dated 25th February 1943
. T.G. Tendulkar, n. 132, p. 200
138
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 22nd February 1943
139
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 5th April 1943
137
158
spite of the so-called precautions taken by Government and their prohibitory orders
shops were closed on that day in many places like Bezawada. Meetings were held
and processions were taken out. The public continued to display their confidence in
Gandhiji and his message. In October “Gandhi Jayanthi” was celebrated with the
usual enthusiasm.
Though the Congress was under a ban other organisations like the National
Youth League and Grama Sevak Sanghams were started and they became active in
the latter part of 1943. They carried on much of the work of the Congress. They held
conferences at which resolutions were passed supporting the Quit India Movement
and demanding the release of national leaders and the establishment of a popular
government at the centre and in the provinces.140 No alien governmentcould kill the
love of freedom inherent among the people.
They also made into clash with
communists who continued to adopt a pro-British policy which they found so
necessary to safeguard the interests of Soviet Russia, their Father-land.
The public was very much agitated in the latter part of the year as a result of
the decision taken by the Government of Madras to suspend prohibition introduced in
1939 by the Congress Ministry. Meetings were held to protest against the decision
and in some of them opportunity was taken by speakers to emphasise the need for a
popular government if such reactionary policies were to be avoided. According to the
Government Fortnightly Report:“Suspension of prohibition has given a handle to a
number of people to air their opposition to Government. Congressmen and their
sympathisers, Communists, students and labour organisations all meet on a common
platform on this subject.” One curious outcome of this agitation was the
recommendation made by the District Magistrate of Kadapa that K. Koti Reddy, D.
Rama Subba Reddy and K. Balanarayana Reddy who were allowed to be on parole on
condition that they would not take part in political activities should not have the
period of their parole extended as they participated in meetings held to protest against
the suspension of prohibition.
Even such meetings were dubbed political by
Government.
By December 1943 the political situation was quiet on the whole although
there were several people who carried on the Quit India campaign in some form or
140
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 12th November 1943, 9th December 1943 and 21st December
1943
159
other. Discontent with alien rule and hostility towards it were on the increase though
they were not given outside expression to the same extent as in 1942.
This was also the time when complaints against the treatment of political
prisoners became louder. Government had no satisfactory answer to most of them. It
therefore thought that one way out of the difficulty would be to release some of the
prisoners. By the middle of December seventy of them were released and among
them was Bazawada Gopala Reddy.141
“Duringthe great national upsurge of 1942, the Communists acted as stooges
and spies of the British Government, and helped them against their own countrymen
fighting for freedom”.142This was, however, only a part of the tactics they found it
necessary to adopt. Their ultimate aim was to establish in India a government of
“workers and peasants” modelled on that of Soviet Russia and allied to that country.
They kept this aim in mind even though throughout the war they actively helped the
British. It was to achieve it that they utilised the freedom they acquired through
Government lifting of the ban on them. They persisted in getting supreme control
over organised labour, over students and peasants.
Government was worried over this dubious attitude of the Communists.
Several of the Fortnightly reports provide evidence of this. The Report dated 25th
January stated: “Communist activity this fortnight appeared to be mainly concentrated
on the labouring classes. In Kakinada they were behind the scavengers in their move
to demand enhancement of wages and allowances. In Bezawada they have been
agitating for the control of prices of foodstuffs and the opening of the food depots,
this being a very convenient platform”. The Report dated 6th February stated after
giving an account of their activities: “The general impression that their activities
suggest is that under the cloak of pro-war sympathies their main idea is really to
utilise the discontent at the present time to strengthen their party”. Government
continued to have this impression throughout the period of the war but they took no
action as the Party exerted its utmost in keeping the workers out of the national
struggle and in preventing them from going on strike especially in those industrial
concerns which were engaged in the production of munitions of war.
141
142
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 22nd December 1943
. R.C. Majumdar, History of the Freedom Movement in India, Volume III, p. 689
160
Before passing on to the events of 1944 a reference has to be made to the
change in India’sViceroyalty in October 1943. Lord Linlithgow who enjoyed the
office for 7 ½ years –a term longer than that of any other Viceroy-left the country.
Writing a sort of fare-well letter to him, Gandhiji observed: “Of all the high
functionaries, I have had the honour of knowing none has been the cause of such deep
sorrow to me as you have been. It has cut me to the quick to have to think of you as
having countenanced untruth and that regarding one whom you at one time considered
as your friend. I hope and pray that God will someday put it into your heart to realize
that you, a representative of a great nation had been led into a grievous error”.143No
one can deny the truth contained in this observation. His regime “was conspicuous by
its lack of positive achievement. When he left India famine stalked portions of the
countryside. There was economic distress due to the rising cost of living and the
shortage of essential commodities. On the political side, Sir Tej Bahadur expressed
the general feeling thus: “To-day, I say, after seven years of Lord Linlithgow’s
administration the country is much more divided than when he came here”.144 His
exit came as a sort of relief to almost all sections of the people. Many, however,
considered it ominous that his place should have been taken by General Wavell, a
military man “who had been the Commander-in-Chief in the Government which
suppressed the disturbances following the Quit India resolution and the arrest of the
Congress leaders”.145 With a die-hard conservative like Winston Churchill as the
British Prime Minister and with a General as the Viceroy it looked as if there would
be little chance of Britain loosening her iron-grip over the country.
The fight for freedom lost much of its momentum in 1944. Activities became
sporadic and occasional. The struggle however was not given up. There was for
instance the march of seven Congress Volunteers in the streets of Bhimavaram on 26th
June, under the auspices of the West Godavari District Satyagraha Committee,
displaying Congress flags, “shouting Congress slogans”, telling the public that none
should help the cause of war or join the military, that the British should leave the
country and that it should be the aim of every Indian to give effect to the Resolution
143
. T.G. Tendulkar, n. 132, p. 234
. V.P. Menon, The Transfer of Power in India, p. 151
145
. Ibid, pp. 152-53
144
161
of 8th August 1942. It goes without saying that all the volunteers were arrested and
sentenced to rigorous imprisonment after a formal trial. There were also instances of
books and leaflets in support of the Quit India movement being secretly published and
distributed.
It was the view of the Government that the movement died down. This was
what it inferred from the reports it received from the several district magistrates. The
magistrate of Anantapuram reported that “the activities of the Congress have become
imperceptible. On account of this there was no instance where the police had to open
fire”. From Chittoor came the Report that there were no serious riots during the year
and there was also no necessity to have bandhobusth to guard railway lines. The
magistrate of Kadapa stated that on the whole his district had a very peacefuland calm
period during the year. Reports from the other Andhra districts were of the same
character.
But all this did not produce any effect on the repressive measures adopted by
Government. It behaved like the leopard which cannot change its spots. The officials,
for instance, came to know that a Congress dictator was appointed in Andhra to
organise the celebration of the Independence Day in an impressive manner on January
26th. Orders were consequently issued to take all preventive measures and especially
to stop any public reading or taking of the Independence pledge.146All the same the
day was observed as usual in most places. Prabhat Pheris were taken out. Large sized
Quit India posters were fixed to walls and even to a five-storeyed gopuram of a
temple National flags and pamphlets were distributed. Government took revenge on
the participators in these activities by arresting them in large numbers and keeping
them in police custody for a number of days.147The occasion was also used to declare
as unlawful associations, the National Students’ Organisation and the National Youth
League on the ground that they had sympathies with the Congress.148
On 22nd February, Kasturiba passed away plunging the whole country in deep
sorrow. For six hours Gandhiji stayed near her funeral pyre. “At this moment how
can I separate myself from my old and faithful companion?” he said. “I cannot even
imagine life without Ba. She was a part and parcel of my life. Her death will leave a
146
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 25th January 1944
. The Hindu, dated 29th January 1944
148
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 25th January 1944
147
162
permanent void in my life”.149 This was the second irreparable loss suffered by
Gandhiji in jail, the first being that of Mahadev Desai in August 1942.
Meetings were held throughout Andhra to pay respect to the memory of
Kasturiba. Hartals were declared and black flag processions were taken out. All this
was resented bythe Government. Even on an occasion of national mourning like this
it was not in a mood to keep itself under restraint. In Guntur several people were
arrested for asking shopkeepers to close their shops. In Bhimavaram meetings were
banned and when they were held they were forcibly dispersed by armed
reserves.150There was no change of heart among the holders of power.
During the following months opinion gained ground even among nonCongress circles that the political dead-lock should somehow be resolved and that as a
first step to it Gandhiji and the other national leaders should be released. Progressive
groups in England also came to a similar conclusion and urged the desirability of
forming a national government in India at an early date.151
Government, however, was not prepared to make any move in such a
direction. It adhered to its old rigid position that unless Gandhiji expressed regret for
passing the August Resolution and accepted responsibility for the violence that
followed, the question of his release could not be considered. Gandhiji was the last
man to oblige the Government on this point. On the other hand, in the letters which
he addressed to Lord Linlithgow and Viscount Wavell he made it clear more than
once that the resolution of 8th August 1942 was not only harmless but good all round,
that the responsibility for the violence that followed it rested not on the Congress but
on Government and that any reconsideration of the resolution was possible only after
all the Congress leaders were released. The impasse therefore continued as ever.
The pressure on Government for the release of Gandhiji increased from day to
day. It looked at the question mainly from the stand point of prestige. But in the
middle of April Gandhiji had an attack of malaria from which he did not make a rapid
recovery. There were also grounds for fear of a sudden collapse. Government then
thought that its prestige would not suffer if he was released on medical grounds. It
ordered his release on 6th May.
149
. T.G. Tendulkar, n. 132, p. 238
150
. The Hindu, dated 25th and 26th, February, 1944
. The Hindu, dated 19th April 1944
151
163
Gandhiji thus became a free man after twenty-one months of detention in
prison. As A.Kaleswara Rao observed:“The release was the happiest and the most
fortunate event for the whole nation-nay for the permanent peace of the
world.152Every one now looked to Gandhiji for suggesting some way out of the deadlock.
After recovering a little from his illness he took the initiative in the matter and
th
on 17 June, addressed a letter to the Viceroy in which he stated: “Though there is
little cause for it, the whole country and even many from outside expect me to make
descisive contribution to the general good….I could do little or nothing unless I know
the mind of the working Committee of the Congress. I pleaded as a prisoner for
permission to see them. I plead now as a freeman for such permission. If you will see
me before deciding, I shall gladly go wherever you want me to….”.153But the letter
did not produce any result. The Viceroy refused permission for Gandhiji to see the
members of the Working Committee. He also refused to grant an interview to him.
He, however, informed him that he would be glad to consider if he had any
constructive policy to propose.
In the first week of July, Stewart Gelder, a correspondent of the News
Chronicle, London had an interview with Gandhiji when the latter gave him an idea of
his policy. He made it quite clear at the outset that he could do nothing without
consulting the Congress Working Committee and that if he had the opportunity of
meeting the Viceroy he would tell him that it was his purpose to help and not hinder
the allied war effort. Moreover, “he had no intention of offering civil disobedience.
History could never be repeated, he could not take the country back to 1942…. Today he would be satisfied with a nationalgovernment in full control of civil
administration and would advise the Congress to participate in such a government if
formed… . The Military would be allowed all the facilities they might require, but
the control would be that of the national government”. The Viceroy was made aware
of the contents of the interview which put forward a number of constructive proposals
but even then he was not disposed to permit Gandhiji to meet the members of the
Working Committee or grant him an interview. He repeated that Gandhiji should give
him full details of his constructive policy.
152
153
. The Hindu, dated 8th May 1944
. T.G. Tendulkar, n. 132, p. 251
164
On 27th July, Gandhiji addressed a detailed letter to the Viceroy in which he
stated that he was prepared to advise the Working Committee to renounce mass civil
disobedience and to give full co-operation to Government in the war effort if a
declaration of immediate Indian independence were made and a national government
responsible to the Central Assembly were formed. He also stated that during the
pendency of the war, Military operations should continue as at present but without
any financial burden on India.154
The readiness of Gandhiji to withdraw mass civil disobedience was a great
step in his attempt to resolve the dead-lock.
But the Viceroy was too slow to
appreciate its value. In his reply to Gandhiji he raised earlier by his predecessor – and
pointed out as usual that there should be prior agreement among all the communities
in regard to the composition of any new national government and also to the method
by which the future constitution of India should be framed. Gandhiji was justified in
the comment he made: “It is as clear as crystal that the British Government do not
propose to give up the power they possess over the four hundred millions unless the
latter develop strength enough to wrest it from them.”155
Not only did the Viceroy refuse to give any consideration to Gandhiji’s
proposals but his Government would not permit Congressmen in the country to hold
meetings to shape public opinion on them. The District Magistrates of Krishna and
Guntur were among those who placed a ban on such meetings. The injustice involved
in prohibitory orders like these was pointed out by A. Kaleswara Rao in a statement in
which he said: “The Krishna District Magistrate’s order merely digs out an old order
passed by his predecessor on 25th January, and applies it to the Bezawada meetings in
question without assigning any special reasons necessitating the ban.
It is
meaningless to reissue an order that has no application to the present conditions and
state that no meeting should be held in pursuance of the aims and objects of the
Congress which include removal of untouchability, establishment of Hindu-Muslim
unity, Khaddar work and post war economic reconstruction. When other parties like
Liberals, Communists, and Swarajists hold meetings for this very purpose there is
154
. V.P. Menon, n. 144, pp. 160-61
155
. T.G. Tendulkar, n. 132, p. 265
165
absolutely no prohibition but Congressmen are prohibited from doing the same
thing”.156Similar statements were issued by Konda Venkatappaiah and leaders from
Rayalaseema.157
With the approach of 9th August, the public of Andhra were anxious to
celebrate the anniversary of the inauguration of the Quit India movement. Before
doing so they wanted to obtain guidance from Gandhiji as to how they should do it.
He made it quite clear to them that the Quit India resolution had as much validity in
1944 as in 1942 but in the altered conditions he said that it was desirable top avoid all
avoidable risks in celebrating the anniversary. “Therefore, in all places except
Bombay, my advice is not to disregard special police prohibitions that day…. The
second thing that I should like done on 9th August, is for those who have gone
underground to discover themselves. They can do so by informing the authorities of
their movement and whereabouts, or by simply and naturally doing their work in the
open without any attempt to evade or elude the police. To those who share my faith.
I would advise fasting and prayer on the auspicious day”.158 It was also known by
that time that Gandhiji proposed to have talks with Jinnah on the communal question.
This gave added significance to the celebration of the Quit India Day.
In all places in Andhra the celebration was carried on in strict accordance with
the advice of Gandhiji. Congregational prayers were offered for the success of his
talks with Jinnah.159As significant as this was Sri Nivarthi Venkatasubbaiah
surrendering himself to the Police. He was a member of the All-India Congress
Committee and the General Secretary of the Kurnool District Congress Committee.
He went underground in 1942 and when he met Gandhiji early in August 1944 at
Sevagram he was advised to surrender himself to the Police. He accordingly did so.
He was then put up for trial for the offence of issuing prejudicial pamphlets and
inciting students to boycott schools and village officers to resign. But finally the case
against him was withdrawn by Government and he was set free.160
The first meeting between Gandhiji and Jinnah on the communal question
took place on 9th September. Gandhiji had made a concrete offer to Jinnah, “stating
156
. The Hindu, dated 11th August 1944
. The Hindu, dated 4th and 6th August 1944
158
. T.G. Tendulkar, n. 132, pp.270-271
159
. The Hindu, dated 12th August 1944
160
. The Hindu, dated 26th August 1944, 22nd September 1944 and 25th October 1944
157
166
that he was willing to recommend to the Congress and the country the acceptance of
the claim for Separation contained in the League’s Lahore resolutionof 1940, under
certain terms and conditions”. But Jinnah rejected the offer and the talks came to an
end without producing any result except enhancing theposition and prestige of Jinnah
among the Muslims generally and causing much disappointment in the country.
In the months following the breakdown of talks between Gandhiji and Jinnah
much correspondence passed between Wavell on one side and theSecretary of State
for India and Winston Churchill on the other for the solution of the Indian problem.
There were also attempts made in the same direction by the non-party conference
under the chairmanship of Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. But nothing came out of all this.
The impasse continued and the only hope lay in Britain changing her attitude in view
of the favourable turn which the war took in the latter part of 1944.
In this situation, Congressmen in Andhra turned their attention to the carrying
out of the constructive programme.161 All the old Congress Committees were under a
ban. They therefore took steps to form in each district a district Congress Assembly
of a new type and make it the instrument of their constructive work. They made it a
point to exclude Communists and Royists from them. By the middle of November
such assemblies were started in West Godavari, Guntur and Krishna.
On 30th
November, an Assembly was started in Nellore. Sri Kalluri Subba Rao and Srimathi
Rukmini Lakshmipathi toured over all the districts in this connection.162 Before the
close of the year many more of such assemblies were formed.
During these months Prof. Ranga was busy in reorganising his Kisan Sabhas
so as to exclude from them the Communists and communist influence. He met
Gandhiji in this connection and he was advised to work in close co-operation with the
Congress and fly the Kisan flag by the side of the national flag. Communists were
becoming more and more isolated from the other political organisations in Andhra.
Though moves like these had considerable significance of their own the nation
as a whole was looking with great interest and even anxiety at the efforts to solve the
political problem. It was with this expectation of the people that the year 1944 ended.
161
162
. V.P. Menon, n. 144, pp. 164-66
. Government Fortnightly Report, dated 23rd December 1944
167
The Quit India Movement in Hyderabad
The Quit India Movement had its repercussions in the Hyderabad State also.
Swamy Ramanand Tirtha met Mahatma Gandhi a day before the Bombay session of
the All India Congress Committee who explained to him and his colleagues the
implications of the Quit India Movement. Swamy Ramanand Tirtha obtained from
Gandhiji the necessary permission for Hyderabad people to participate in the Quit
India Movement, though it might not be as spectacular as in the other parts of India.
The decision to participate in the Quit India Struggle was adopted not only by the
State Congresss in Hyderabad but by the various Praja Mandals in the Princely States.
Swamy Ramanand Tirtha left Bombay via Sholapur for Hyderabad and anticipating
that he might be arrested, sent a letter to Dr. Melkote envisaging the demands of the
Hyderabad State Congress so that it could be signed and sent to the Nizam. As
anticipated, he was arrested as soon as he got down at the Nampalli station. Dr. G.S.
Melkote duly signed the letter on behalf of the State Congress demanding the State
Congress, and the release of all political prisoners.
Reactionary elements in
Hyderabad tried to take advantage of the slogan “Quit India” saying that the British
withdrawal from India would automatically mean the Independence of Hyderabad and
raised the slogan, “Azad Hyderabad”.Thereby seeking to confuse the two issues.
Among persons who were arrested during the Quit India Satyagraha in
Hyderabad were Pandit Narenderji, Harishehandra Heda, Gyankumari Heda,
Vimalabai Melkote, G.S. Melkote, Jethandra Rashtravadi, Padmaja Naidu, Smt. and
Sri Ramaswamy, B.Ramakrishna Rao, G. Ramachari, Gangadhar Krishna, Ganpat
Rao, Krishna Dube (Kothagudem Trade Union leader of Singareni Collieries), L.
Narayana, Rajeshwar Rao, Somyajulu, D. Narasaiah, Komaragiri Narayana Rao, M.S.
Rajalingam, Sridhar Rao Kulkarni, Kodati Narayan Rao, Vande Mataram
Ramchandra Rao, Prem Raj Yadav and Mallayya Yadav, Kaloji Narayana Rao, etc.
Apart from the Satyagrahis in the city several volunteers participated in the
Satyagraha movement from Osmanabad, Parbhani, Aurangabad, Nanded, Umri, not
only on behalf of the State Congress but also on behalf of the Maharashtra Parishad
and the Karnataka Conference. Govindas Shroff, the Secretary of the Maharashtra
Parishad was placed under detention in Aurangabad. Padmaja Naidu was arrested for
168
placing the Congress flag on the Residency building.163
Before the Quit India
movement was launched in Hyderabad, several nationalist leaders like Kasinath Rao
Vaidya, Hassan Thirmiji, Vinayak Rao Vidyalankar, Ravi Narayana Reddy, Fataullah
Khan, Janardhan Rao Desai, HanumanthRao, appealed to the Nizam to form a
Ministry consisting of duly elected ministers. Seeing the demand for the restoration
of civil liberties and Responsible Government growing dayby day, the Nizam’s
Government engaged the services of Prof. Rushbrook Williams, who at this time was
an employee of the B.B.C., on a honorarium of 200 pounds per annum to carry on
propaganda on behalf of the Nizam’s Government by writing articles in different
newspapers and journals saying that the people in the Indian States more particularly
so in Hyderabad enjoyed political and rights to the same extent as the people in the
neighbouring Indian provinces.
The Cripps Mission and his Interviews, Jawaharlal Nehru’s Confidential Note,
Quit India Resolution, Leader’s Speeches, Mass Upsurge in various states of India,
Role of Working Class and the role of Communists in Quit India Movement in
Madras Presidency, role of Telugu Press, the Disturbances of Coastal Andhra and
Quit India Movement in Hyderabad were discussed. The next Chapter mainly focuses
on the development of the Quit India Movement in Rayalaseema.
163
. Sarojini Regani, n. 114, p. 195
169