Swathi Deivamani

Coach Schnell
English 1 Pre-AP
21/5/2015
Analysis of the Iconic Quit India Movement and Quit India Speech of Gandhi
In 1893, Mohandas Gandhi carried out his first act of civil disobedience in
protest against racial segregation while working as an attorney in South Africa. In
the subsequent fifty years after returning to his native India in 1915, he continued
working on issues of social justice and, especially, Indian
independence. Mahatma Gandhi helped in the fight against the Indian peoples
oppression under British rule, through nonviolent resistance and civil
disobedience to obtain political and social goals. One of his key speeches on the
subject occurred in 1942. In Gandhis Quit India Movement Speech, delivered to
the All India Congress Committee on the evening of August 8, 1942, he made a
historic appeal for a mass civil-disobedience movement in support of the struggle
for Indias freedom from British imperialism. The Quit India Movement was a call
by Mahatma Gandhi for the country's immediate independence. In his speech he
wanted to give his followers hope and reason for the struggle of their new
movement. Gandhi preached of Ahimsa constantly to show his people that he

was not only teaching the way of Ahimsa but also living it. Gandhi wanted to
negotiate with the British government for the independence of India. Gandhi
made a speech and within 24 hours the entire Congress was confined. The main
purpose of this civil disobedience movement of India was to face the British in the
non-violent ways.

At the outbreak of war in 1939 between Britain and Germany, India was
also declared to be at war with Germany as it constituted part of the British
Empire. The Congress took the view that while it opposed fascism, it could render
no support to the British. It was not with the consent of the Indian people that
India was dragged into the war, nor was this India's war. In an effort to bring the
British to the negotiating table, Gandhi launched his 'Quit India' movement in
August 1942, and issued from a large meeting ground in Bombay the famous call
to 'do or die'. Indians were to wage one last struggle to achieve independence, or
die in that attempt. Gandhi asked people to overcome their religious differences
and stand united as Indians. Elaborate plans were made to offer non-violent
resistance; however, almost the entire Congress leadership, and not merely at the
national level, was put into confinement less than twenty-four hours after

Gandhi's speech. The main factor which led to the launch of the Quit India
Movement was Gandhi's protest against the return of Sir Stafford Cripps.
The Quit India Movement was a large scale civil disobedience campaign
trying to get freedom for India from British. The Quit India speech was made by
Gandhi on August 8th 1942. Through this address he made the historic appeal for
mass civil disobedience and a call for passive resistance. The purpose of the
speech was to give his followers hope and reason for the struggle of their new
movement. In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established
by non-violence, there will be equal freedom for all. This speech motivated
nationwide civil disobedience movements across India to protest against the war
and British imposed injustice. The British government realized that India was
ungovernable in the long run.
In this speech, we can see that Gandhi has taken great care in the words he chose
to speak. He was able to convey and impress his ideas and yet not leave his
humbleness. He has spoken the words with exactness and used language to
impart his thoughts rightly. This shows Gandhi as a non-populist, and a leader
who chooses to project his beliefs through the use of rhetoric strategies within
public addresses.

Many Indian businessmen were profiting from heavy wartime spending and
did not support Quit India. Many militant students paid more attention to
Subhash Chandra Bose, who was in exile and supporting the Axis. The only
outside support came from the Americans, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt
pressured Prime Minister Winston Churchill to give in to Indian demands. The
Quit India campaign was effectively crushed. The British refused to grant
immediate independence, saying it could happen only after the war ended.
Gandhi was trying to inspire the people in the new movement to be peaceful and
patient. While, ultimately, the movement didnt work, the people remained
peaceful and India gained its freedom in 1947.