The Quit India Movement was a mass civil-disobedience campaign launched by the Indian National Congress on 8 August 1942, demanding an immediate end to British rule. It followed the "Quit India" resolution passed in Bombay and the "Do or Die" call, and was met with swift arrests of the leadership, widespread protest and prolonged underground activity during the Second World War.
What was the Quit India Movement?
The Quit India Movement (also called the August Movement or the 1942 Movement, and known in some accounts as the Bharat Chhodo Andolan) was a nationwide call for the British to leave India. It was set against the backdrop of the Second World War, the failure of the Cripps Mission earlier in 1942, and rising economic and political strain across the subcontinent.
The Congress passed the "Quit India" resolution at its All India Congress Committee session in Bombay on 8 August 1942. The following morning, the British administration arrested the senior Congress leadership, removing the movement's national coordinators almost at the outset. What followed was shaped as much by local initiative and improvisation as by any central plan. For the wider chronology, see our India freedom struggle timeline.
Background: the road to August 1942
Several developments fed into the launch of the movement. The Second World War had been declared on India's behalf without consultation with elected Indian representatives, prompting the resignation of Congress provincial ministries in 1939. Wartime conditions brought inflation, shortages and disruption. In March 1942 the British government sent the Cripps Mission to secure Indian cooperation for the war effort, offering proposals on India's future constitutional status. The mission ended without agreement, and its failure sharpened demands for an immediate transfer of power.
- 1939: Congress ministries resign after India is entered into the war without consultation.
- Early 1942: Wartime hardship and the advance of the war in Asia raise the political temperature.
- March–April 1942: The Cripps Mission arrives and departs without an accepted settlement.
- 8 August 1942: The AICC in Bombay passes the Quit India resolution.
The "Do or Die" call
In his address around the passing of the resolution, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi issued a call popularly attributed to him as "Do or Die" (Karo ya Maro) — an appeal to work for freedom or to die in the attempt, while he continued to frame the struggle in terms of non-violence. The phrase became the movement's defining slogan. The word "Quit India" itself is often associated in popular memory with the socialist leader Yusuf Meherally, who is credited with coining it.
The intended method was mass non-violent civil disobedience. However, with the leadership imprisoned within hours, the movement in practice unfolded without unified direction, and its character varied widely from place to place.
Repression and mass arrests
The British response was immediate and extensive. On 9 August 1942, Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and other senior figures were detained. The Congress was declared unlawful, its offices were taken over and its funds frozen. Over the following months, large numbers of people were arrested across the country, and detentions ran into the tens of thousands.
Protests, strikes, and attacks on symbols of colonial authority — railway lines, telegraph wires, police stations and government buildings — spread through many regions. The administration met these with police and military action, and there were deaths during the suppression. In several districts, notably parts of present-day Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Maharashtra and Odisha, protest was especially intense.
| Date / period | Event |
|---|---|
| 8 August 1942 | Quit India resolution passed by the AICC in Bombay |
| 9 August 1942 | Arrest of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad and other leaders; Congress banned |
| August–September 1942 | Widespread strikes, demonstrations and disruption; strong repression |
| Late 1942 onward | Underground networks organise resistance; parallel governments emerge in places |
| 1944 | Gandhi released from detention on health grounds |
Underground activity and parallel governments
With the recognised leadership in prison, a younger and often more radical layer of activists sustained the movement from underground. Figures associated with this phase include Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali — remembered for hoisting the flag at the Gowalia Tank ground in Bombay — Usha Mehta, who helped run a clandestine "Congress Radio," and Sucheta Kripalani, among others.
In certain areas, activists established short-lived parallel administrations, often described as prati sarkar or national governments. The best known examples include Satara in Maharashtra, Tamluk (Midnapore) in Bengal, and Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, where local authorities briefly lost control before British forces reasserted it. These experiments varied in duration and reach, and are studied today as instances of grassroots self-organisation. Several of the individuals involved feature among the freedom fighters of India.
Contested assessments: a range of scholarly views
Historians differ in how they weigh the Quit India Movement, and readers should approach it as a genuinely debated subject rather than a settled one. The following summarises a range of positions without endorsing any:
- On effectiveness: Some scholars view Quit India as a decisive demonstration that British authority could no longer be sustained without continuous coercion. Others argue the movement was contained relatively quickly and that other wartime and post-war factors weighed more heavily on the timing of British withdrawal.
- On violence and non-violence: The movement was launched as non-violent civil disobedience, but with the leadership imprisoned, actions in some areas included sabotage and clashes. Assessments range from those who treat this as an understandable response to repression to those who see it as a departure from the stated method.
- On participation: Some accounts stress the breadth of popular involvement, including students, peasants and workers; others note that participation was uneven across regions and communities, and that several political groups and parties did not take part.
- On overall significance: Perspectives range from treating 1942 as a turning point that made independence a near-term certainty, to viewing it as one important episode among many in a longer process leading to 1947.
These debates are best read alongside the broader story of the movement, including the moderate and revolutionary strands, the role of the Indian National Army, and constitutional negotiation. Our freedom struggle timeline places Quit India within that wider sweep.
Legacy on the road to 1947
Whatever weight one assigns to it, the Quit India Movement is widely regarded as the last major countrywide mass campaign under British rule before independence. It kept the demand for immediate self-government in the foreground through the war years, and many who took part went on to hold public roles in independent India.
The years after 1942 saw further significant developments — the release of leaders, post-war negotiations, the events surrounding the Indian National Army trials and naval unrest in 1946, and the constitutional discussions that culminated in the transfer of power. For how the final steps unfolded, see what happened on 15 August 1947 and our account of the Partition of India in 1947, which accompanied independence.
Quit India and Independence Day 2026
India marks Independence Day on 15 August each year, and 15 August 2026 is the 80th Independence Day, marking 79 completed years since 1947. The Quit India Movement is often recalled in the run-up to the day as a chapter in the freedom struggle. If the numbering is confusing, our explainer on why it is the 80th and not the 79th Independence Day sets out the counting. You can also read the full Independence Day 2026 guide.
Quick recap: five things to remember
- The Quit India resolution was passed on 8 August 1942 in Bombay.
- The "Do or Die" call is popularly attributed to Gandhi.
- Senior leaders were arrested on 9 August 1942, and the Congress was banned.
- Underground activists and short-lived parallel governments sustained protest in several regions.
- Historians hold a range of views on the movement's effectiveness and significance.