Thread by @Aabhas24

Because people are happily taking about 80 year #QuitIndiaMovement, I thought to collate few interesting pointers in this thread which.

C Rajagopalachari, Gandhi’s earliest lieutenant & “Conscious Keeper!” was against QIM. He said as below:

“There is no reality in the fond expectation that Britain will leave the country in simple response to a Congress slogan. Besides, by asking the British to leave, the Congress was issuing an open invitation to a colonising power more brutal by far, the Japanese.”

Source for above: swarajyamag.com/editors-pick/r…

Looking at the situation at hand Rajaji had opposed #QuitIndiaMovement & had advocated dialogue with British in that period.

Read here
web.archive.org/web/2010101417…

Reading the sources (one shared above), Rajaji had a rational that passivity & neutrality would harm India's interests very largely at a time when the country was threatened with invasion.

To some extent his warning turned true, It effected India badly.

People will do the talking that RSS, Hindu Mahasabha opposes it but truth of the matter is that Nehru & Ambedkar too opposed it though former fell in line with Gandhi soon.

Very famously Ambedkar said,

“The patriotic duty of all Indians was rather to prevent such movements from creating anarchy and chaos which unquestionably facilitate the subjugation of this country to Japan.”

But if the truth be told, despite so much strong opposition at leadership level, the #QuitIndiaMovement had touched the masses. There was more than active partition of people though Gandhi had no concrete plans.

The spread was diverse & huge.
Almost all rich & poor became heart of the movement. Eastern UP and Bihar, Midnapur in Bengal, Satara in Maharashtra , Andhra, Telangana, Gujarat and Kerala were major Centers.

Youth participated very actively.

Students boycotted educational establishments & participated in hartals.

Women became eternal soul of this badly organised Movement & their courage inspires us even today.

The scale of women participation was unprecedented.

They programmed & organised rallies with speeches and transported materials for cause. British officers tried brutal most ways to crush them too. Entering house and torturing was common thing.

Of all there was a name, Matangini Hazra. She was 72 year old during this movement.

She led a procession of 6000 supporters, mostly women volunteers, with the purpose of taking over the Tamluk police station.

Read these book for details 1) books.google.com/books/about/Fr…

2) books.google.com/books/about/Lo…

Going forward with incidence, as the procession reached to the outskirts of town, instruction came to disband & move away for Section 144 was called upon by Crown police.

But she stepped forward appealing police to not open fire & was shot at once.

The Biplabi newspaper commented:

“Matangini led one procession from the north of the criminal court building; even after the firing commenced, she continued to advance with the tri-colour flag, leaving all the volunteers behind. The police shot her three times.

She continued marching despite wounds to the forehead and both hands.”

It is reported that she kept chanting #Vandematram while they repeatedly shot her. She died with the flag held high and still flying.
Check pg 71 in this book books.google.com/books/about/Mi…

Then we had struggle led by Nandini Devi and Sashibala Devi  from Orissa, Kanakalatha Barua and Kahuli Devi from Assam & who too died in police atrocities.

In this period one Usha Mehta operated a secret Congress Radio from Mumbai.

If truth be told aloud, “The entire leadership of Congress, had left the field, got arrested and were in jail complete 3 years of the #QuitIndiaMovement . The ‘DO’ for leaders by going to jail & DIE was for people like Hazra & more.