Provincial Ministries, the Second World War and the Quit India Movement (1935–1944)

The Government of India Act, 1935 and the 1937 elections

The Government of India Act, 1935 (studied in detail in GS2) introduced provincial autonomy, ended dyarchy in the provinces, proposed an All-India Federation (which never came into being because princes did not join), and extended the franchise to about 14% of the population. The Congress criticised the Act – Nehru called it "a machine with strong brakes but no engine" – but decided to contest the provincial elections of early 1937.

The Congress won a clear majority in five provinces (Madras, Bihar, Orissa, the Central Provinces and the United Provinces) and was the largest party in Bombay. It later formed ministries in eight of eleven provinces, including the NWFP and Assam. The Muslim League did poorly, winning only about 109 of 482 Muslim seats; it did not win a majority even in Muslim-majority Punjab (Unionist Party under Sikandar Hayat Khan) or Bengal (Krishak Praja Party of Fazlul Huq).

Work of the Congress ministries (1937–39)

• Civil liberties: bans on organisations and newspapers lifted, political prisoners released, police powers curbed.
• Agrarian laws: tenancy legislation in UP and Bihar, debt relief laws, restrictions on eviction and moneylending.
• Social welfare: prohibition in some areas, Basic Education (Wardha scheme, 1937) proposed by Gandhi, temple entry and measures against untouchability, attention to health and village industries.
• Labour: some pro-worker laws, though strikes were also handled firmly in places.

The Congress Socialist Party (1934), founded by Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Minoo Masani, pressed for more radical change. The All India Kisan Sabha (1936), with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati as president, and the All India Students' Federation also grew. In the princely states, people's movements were coordinated by the All India States People's Conference (1927).

The League accused the ministries of being anti-Muslim (the Pirpur Report, 1938, and Shareef Report), and this propaganda helped it rebuild its support.

Haripura and Tripuri: the Bose episode

Subhas Chandra Bose was elected Congress president at Haripura (1938), where he set up a National Planning Committee under Nehru. In 1939, he was re-elected against Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Gandhi's candidate; Gandhi said Sitaramayya's defeat was "more mine than his". At the Tripuri session (1939), the Working Committee members resigned, and Bose, unable to work with them, resigned and formed the Forward Bloc (May 1939) within the Congress. Rajendra Prasad became president.

The Second World War and Congress resignations

On 3 September 1939, Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared India at war with Germany without consulting Indian leaders. The Congress was willing to support the fight against fascism if India was promised independence after the war and a responsible government immediately. The government refused, and the Congress ministries resigned in October–November 1939. The Muslim League celebrated 22 December 1939 as "Day of Deliverance".

The Lahore Resolution (1940)

At its Lahore session (March 1940), the Muslim League, under Jinnah, passed the Lahore Resolution (later called the Pakistan Resolution), moved by Fazlul Huq. It demanded that Muslim-majority areas in the north-west and east be grouped to form "independent states". The idea of a separate homeland had earlier been suggested by Muhammad Iqbal (Allahabad, 1930), and the name "Pakistan" was coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali (Cambridge, 1933).

August Offer and Individual Satyagraha (1940)

• August Offer (8 August 1940): Linlithgow offered dominion status as the objective (no date), expansion of the Viceroy's Executive Council with more Indians, a War Advisory Council, and a constitution-making body after the war; it also assured minorities that no constitution would be adopted without their consent – effectively a veto for the League. The Congress rejected it.
• Individual Satyagraha (October 1940): Gandhi chose a limited, symbolic protest against the war effort. Acharya Vinoba Bhave was the first satyagrahi, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru and then Brahma Datt. By 1941, about 25,000 had been jailed. The movement was called the "Delhi Chalo" movement by some because satyagrahis planned to march to Delhi.

The Cripps Mission (March 1942)

With Japan advancing in South-East Asia (Singapore fell in February 1942 and Rangoon in March), Britain needed Indian support. Sir Stafford Cripps, a Labour member of the War Cabinet, came with proposals:

• Dominion status after the war, with the right to leave the Commonwealth.
• A constituent assembly after the war, partly elected by provincial assemblies and partly nominated by princes.
• Any province not willing to accept the new constitution could stay out and form a separate union – opening the door to partition.
• Defence to remain under British control during the war.

All parties rejected it: the Congress objected to the delay, the role of princes and the provincial option; the League wanted an explicit Pakistan. Gandhi called the offer "a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank" (the phrase "crashing bank" is often attributed to others who added it).

The Quit India Movement (1942)

The failure of Cripps, rising prices, wartime shortages and fear of a Japanese invasion convinced Gandhi that the British must leave immediately. The Congress Working Committee passed the Quit India resolution at Wardha (14 July 1942), and the All India Congress Committee ratified it at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay, on 8 August 1942. Gandhi gave the call "Do or Die" ("Karo ya Maro"). The slogan "Quit India" was coined by Yusuf Meherally.

Course:

• On 9 August 1942, before the movement could start, all top leaders – Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad and others – were arrested (Operation Zero Hour). Gandhi was held at the Aga Khan Palace, Pune, where his wife Kasturba and secretary Mahadev Desai died.
• Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the national flag at Gowalia Tank on 9 August.
• Without leaders, the movement became a spontaneous, leaderless mass upsurge: strikes, attacks on railways, police stations, post offices and telegraph lines, especially in eastern UP, Bihar, Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
• Underground activity: Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan (who escaped from Hazaribagh jail), Aruna Asaf Ali, Achyut Patwardhan and Sucheta Kripalani. Usha Mehta ran the secret Congress Radio from Bombay.
• Parallel governments: Ballia (UP, under Chittu Pandey, August 1942, briefly), Tamluk in Midnapore (Bengal, the Jatiya Sarkar, 1942–44; Matangini Hazra, aged 73, was shot carrying the flag), and Satara (Maharashtra, the Prati Sarkar under Y.B. Chavan and Nana Patil, lasting until 1945).
• The government used extreme repression: firing from aircraft, mass arrests (over 60,000), collective fines and whipping. By the end of 1942 the movement was crushed, though underground work continued.
• Gandhi went on a 21-day fast in February 1943 against government violence and was released in May 1944 on health grounds.

Attitudes: the Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha and the Communist Party (which supported the "People's War" after Germany attacked the USSR in 1941) did not support the movement; Ambedkar also kept away. Princely states and many businessmen were cautious.

Significance: Quit India showed the depth of nationalist feeling and the readiness of ordinary people to sacrifice; it made independence the only question on the agenda, with the issue now being how and when. Lord Linlithgow called it "by far the most serious rebellion since 1857".

Mains practice question

Q. "Quit India was a spontaneous uprising rather than a planned movement." Examine. (250 words)

Framework: background (Cripps failure, war, prices); the resolution and Do or Die; arrest of leaders; leaderless upsurge and regional patterns; underground work and parallel governments; repression; parties that stayed away; significance.

Quick self-test

1. Who moved the Lahore Resolution of 1940? *(Fazlul Huq)*
2. Who was the first individual satyagrahi? *(Vinoba Bhave)*
3. Who ran the secret Congress Radio in 1942? *(Usha Mehta)*
4. Where was the "Prati Sarkar" set up? *(Satara)*