SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WAVELL PLAN

 The Wavell Plan – 1945

Lord Wavell who had succeeded Lord Linlithgow as Governor General in Oct 1943, now made an attempt to resolve the deadlock in India. In March 1945, he went to England for consultations. The result of his consultations was soon reveled. On June 14, he broadcast to the people of India the proposals of the British government to resolve the deadlock in India. He proposed the reconstruction of the Governor General’s Executive Council pending the preparation of a new constitution. With the exception of the Governor General and the Commander in chief (who would retain his position as war member) all other members of the executive council would be nominated from amongst leaders of Indian political life. This Council would have a balanced representation of the main communities, including equal proportions of Muslims and caste Hindus. It would work, if formed, under the existing constitution. Though the Governor General’s veto would not be abolished, it would not be used unnecessarily. The portfolio of External Affairs (other than those of tribal, and frontier matters which had to be dealt with as a part of the defense of India) was to be transferred from the Governor General to an Indian member of the Council. A conference of representatives chosen by the Viceroy was to be convened with a view to obtaining from the leaders of the various parties a joint list, or, failing it, separate lists of worthy people to constitute the new executive council. It was expected also that provincial minister in section 93 provinces would resume office and that there would be coalitions.

The members of the Congress Working Committee were let out of jail, and high hopes prevailed on all sides as invitations for the proposed Simla Conference went out to the leaders including Gandhiji. Meeting on June 25, 1945, the conference was adjourned after three days of discussion. On July 11, Mr. Jinnah had a short interview with the viceroy, during which he seems to have made it clear to the latter that the League wishing to be regarded as the sole representative of the Indian Muslims, was firmly opposed to the inclusion of any non-leaguer Muslims in the Viceroy’s list. But the Viceroy could not agree to this point of view. Three days later, Lord Wavell wound up the conference by declaring a failure of the talks.

The responsibility for the failure lies partly on Lord Wavell himself and partly on Mr. Jinnah. At a Press Conference, Mr. Jinnah stated: ‘On a final examination and analysis of the Wavell Plan, we found that it was a snare… this arrangement by which… we would have signed our death warrant. Next, in the proposed Executive we would be reduced to a minority of one third. All the other minorities such as Scheduled Castes, Sikhs, and Christians have the same goal as the Congress. On the top of this came the last straw… that even about the five members of the Muslim bloc which were allotted to communal will… the Muslim League was not entitled to nominate all the Muslim representatives. But we finally broke as Lord Wavell insisted upon his having one non-leaguer, a nominee of Malik Khizr Hyat Khan representing the Punjab Muslims’.

The Congress President (Maulana Azad) put the responsibility for the breakdown squarely on the shoulders of Mr. Jinnah. Lord Wavell, however, cannot escape the responsibility either. Lord Wavell’s procedure could have been easily iproved upon. He should have taken the leaders into confidence as regards the composition of his own list of members of the executive council. Possibly the Congress leaders might have been persuaded to accept that list either as a whole, or with minor modifications mutually agreed upon. Then, he should not have allowed the league practically to veto the whole plan and thus alone to block the path of progress. (Gandhiji, on whom the Cripps Proposal had fallen flat, felt that the Wavell Plan was sincere in spirit and contained the seeds of independence). It must be noted in this connection that the viceroy had assured the Congress President that ‘no party to the conference could be allowed to obstruct settlement out of willfulness’, but it seems that as in the parallel case of Cripps’, Wavell’s hands were stayed at the last moment. One tangible result of the failure of the Simla Conference was to strengthen the position of Mr. Jinnah and the Muslim League which was clearly manifested in the elections of 1945-46.

INDIAN PEASANTS PRIOR INDEPENDENCE

Describe the efforts and achievements of the Indian peasants prior to independence in 1947

The Indian peasants were the worst sufferers under the British rule. It has been rightly said that the worst result of the British rule in India was extreme poverty of the Indian people and among them, the worst sufferers were the Indian peasants. Indebtedness, fragmentation of holdings, increase in the number of agricultural labor, destruction of handicrafts, low production food grains, etc., were the problems which concerned the peasants directly. Besides, the government, the landlords, intermediaries, the local Bantas and Pakwaris exploited them to the maximum. The peasants were scattered over a vast area, were poor, lacked mobility and being culturally backward depended more on their fate than their self-efforts.

Their sufferings however forced them to rebel against the government, landlords or the Bantas many times. Mostlry, their uprisings were violent and as they were not organized, were suppressed by violence. In 1870, the Bengal tenants refused to pay the revenue, obstructed their eviction from their lands and fought against the government officers. They were suppressed. The only result of their uprising was the Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885. In 1875, the peasants in Maharasthra attacked the houses of Sahukars (money lenders), burnt the documents of debts and killed many Sahukars at several places. These, the so-called Deccan riots were suppressed. However, the Deccan Agriculturalists Relief Act was passed in 1879. In the last decade of the nineteenth century, the peasants revolted in Punjab at many places. The government passed the Punjab Alienation Act in 1902-02 to ease the situation. In 1917-18, the peasants at Champaran in Bihar sought the support of Gandhi against their masters, the indigo planters. They were provided some relief. Gandhi also organized the Satyagraha movement of peasants in Khaira against the collection of land revenue which they could not pay due to the failure of crops. It gained some success.

Thus, prior to 1918, the peasants fought at many places against the injustice done to them but as tehri efforts were not organized they could get only meagre concessions from their exploiters. The Indian National Congress also paid only scanty attention to the welfare of the peasants. N. G. Ranga, the leader of the peasants even criticized Gandhi’s agitation in Champaran, which according to him, failed to solve the main problems of the peasants, viz. the excessive rents and exorbitant debts.

It was only after 1918 that the Indian peasants developed political consciousness, participated int eh national movement and gradually formed their own organizations. When in 1919, the Indian National Congress launched the noncooperation movement it gave the slogan of nonpayment of land revenue. Many peasants, therefore, felt that the struggle for swaraj (independence) meant struggle against the heavy land revenue and they cooperated with the noncooperation movement. It was their first participation in an organized movement.

The struggle of the peasants, however, continued even outside the fold of the Congress during this period. The peasants struggled against their landlords in Guntur District and at many places in Karnataka and Dudh. The Moplah rebellion in 1922 was largely a revolt of Muslim peasants against their landlords, the Namboodni Brahmins of Malabar. But all these movements were suppressed.

The process of the formation of independent peasant’s organization started after the Non Cooperation Movement. Some peasants’ organizations were formed in Andhra in 1923. Kisan (Peasants) Sabhas (Organizations) were started in some parts of Punjab, Bengal, Bihar and UP in 1926-27. The Andhra Provincial Ryots’ Association was started in 1921. In 1928, the relatives of Bihar and UP Kisan Sabha also presented a memorandum consisting of their demands to the All-Parties Conference presided over by Motilal Nehru.

But these organizations were not very effective. Most of them accepted the leadership of the Nationalist leaders of the Indian national congress and put-up resistance to the government under them. Kisan movements of Bardoli district in Gujarat in 1928-29 and 1930-31 were led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi respectively. Other movements of the peasants in UP, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, etc., were also led and inspired by the Indian National Congress. The peasants also participated in large numbers in the Civil Disobedience Movement led by Gandhi though he had not included a single specific demand of the Kisans in his eleven-point demand put before the government.

However, after the Civil Disobedience Movement quiet a large section among the peasantry realized that the Congress would not fight for their specific grievances because capitalists and big landlords were more influential in it. It pointed out to them the necessity of having independent organizations of their own. The communists, the Congress Socialists and even the Left Nationalists like Jawaharlal Nehru emphasized the need of forming such associations. It gave momentum to independent Kisan movements in the thirties of the twentieth century. It resulted in the formation of Bihar Kisan Sabha in 1927, the Provincial Kisan Sabha in UP in 1935, the Madras Presidency Ryots Association in 1935, the Madras Presidency Agriculturalists Association in 1937 and a Kisan School at Nidubrole in 1938 to train the Kisans in organizational work. Some peasants organisations took their birth on communal basis also. Sir Abdul Rahim and Fazl-ul-Haq organized the Praja Party with a view to mustering the Muslim peasants in Bengal. Many Kisan Sabhas gradually sprang in all other parts of the country as well.

In some cases, the government yielded to their pressure resulting in the passing of a few laws like Debt Relief Act in UP in 1934, the Regulation of Accounts Act in 1934 in Punjab, the moneylenders Act in 1939 and the Relief of Indebtedness Act in 1935 in Bengal.

Yet, there was no All India Organisation of the peasants prior to 1935. The first All India Congress of peasants met at Lucknow in 1935 and it founded the first All India Organization of Peasants named the All-India Kisan Congress. The All-India Kisan Congress carried on wide educative propaganda work among the Indian peasants and attempted to harmonize their efforts. It also sought collective affiliation to the Indian National Congress but was refused. It, however, provided a united platform for the Indian peasants to express their grievances and put-up joint demands.

The peasants, in general, supported the Indian National Congress in its struggle for independence. Therefore, when in 1937 the Congress ministries were formed in most of the provinces, they expected that something would be done for their welfare. But they felt disappointed as was the case with the Indian labor class. The Congress governments did not do much except passing a few legislative measures which failed to touch the root causes of the troubles of the Indian peasants. The peasants protested against the indifference of the government to their interests. The government then banned their meetings, arrested their leaders and used police force against them.

Thus, the fate of the Indian peasants did not improve much by the time India was granted independence. But certainly, they were better organized by that time.

MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD | MEDIA ICON

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's real name was Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin. He was popularly known as Maulana Azad.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was one of the foremost leaders of Indian freedom struggle. He was also a renowned scholar, and poet. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was well versed in many languages - Arabic, English, Urdu, Hindi, Persian and Bengali. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a brilliant debater, as indicated by his name, Abul Kalam, which literally means "Lord of dialogue". He adopted the pen name Azad as a mark of his mental emancipation from a narrow view of religion and life.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born on November 11, 1888 in Mecca. His forefathers came from Herat (a city Afghanistan) in Babar's days. Azad was a descendent of a lineage of learned Muslim scholars, or maulanas. His mother was an Arab and the daughter of Sheikh Mohammad Zaher Watri and his father, Maulana Khairuddin, was a Bengali Muslim of Afghan origins. Khairuddin left India during tile Sepoy Mutiny and proceeded to Mecca and settled there. He came back to Calcutta with his family in 1890.

Because of his orthodox family background Azad had to pursue traditional Islamic education. He was taught at home, first by his father and later by appointed teachers who were eminent in their respective fields. Azad learned Arabic and Persian first and then philosophy, geometry, mathematics and algebra. He also learnt English, world history, and politics through self-study.

Azad was trained and educated to become a clergyman. He wrote many works, reinterpreting the holy Quran. His erudition let him to repudiate Taqliq or the tradition of conformity and accept the principle of Tajdid or innovation. He developed interest in the pan Islamic doctrines of Jamaluddin Afghani and the Aligarh thought of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Imbued with the pan-Islamic spirit, he visited Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. In Iraq he met the exiled revolutionaries who were fighting to establish a constitutional government in Iran. In Egypt he met Shaikh Muhammad Abduh and Saeed Pasha and other revolutionary activists of the Arab world. He had a first-hand knowledge of the ideals and spirit of the young Turks in Constantinople. All these contacts metamorphosed him into a nationalist revolutionary.

On his return from abroad; Azad met two leading revolutionaries of Bengal- Aurobindo Ghosh and Sri Shyam Sundar Chakravarty, and joined the revolutionary movement against British rule. Azad found that the revolutionary activities were restricted to Bengal and Bihar.

Within two years, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad helped set up secret revolutionary centers all over north India and Bombay. During that time most of his revolutionaries were anti-Muslim because they felt that the British government was using the Muslim community against India's freedom struggle. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad tried to convince his colleagues to shed their hostility towards Muslims.

In 1912, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad started a weekly journal in Urdu called Al-Hilal to increase the revolutionary recruits amongst the Muslims. Al-Hilal played an important role in forging Hindu-Muslim unity after the bad blood created between the two communities in the aftermath of Morley-Minto reforms. Al-Hilal became a revolutionary mouthpiece ventilating extremist view. The government regarded Al- Hilal as propagator of secessionist views and banned it in 1914. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad then started another weekly called Al-Balagh with the same mission of propagating Indian nationalism and revolutionary ideas based on Hindu-Muslim unity. In 1916, the government banned this paper too and expelled Maulana Abul Kalam Azad from Calcutta and internet him at Ranchi from where he was released after the First World War 1920.

After his release, Azad roused the Muslim community through the Khilafat Movement. The aim of the movement was to re-instate the Khalifa as the head of British captured Turkey.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad supported the Non-Cooperation Movement started by Gandhiji and entered Indian National Congress in 1920. He was elected as the president of the special session of the Congress in Delhi (1923). Maulana Azad was again arrested in 1930 for violation of the salt laws as part of Gandhiji's Salt Satyagraha. He was put in Meerut jail for a year and a half. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad became the president of Congress in 1940 (Ramgarh) and remained in the post till 1946. He was a staunch opponent of partition and supported a confederation of autonomous provinces with their own constitutions but common defense and economy. Partition hurt him greatly and shattered his dream of an unified nation where Hindus and Muslims can co-exist and prosper together.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad served as the Minister of Education (the first education minister in independent India) in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet from 1947 to 1958. He died of a stroke on February 22, 1958. For his invaluable contribution to the nation, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honor, Bharat Ratna in 1992.

K. C. MAMMEN MAPILLAI | MEDIA ICON

 Background: K C Mammen Mappillai was born on 4th of May 1873 as the eldest son of Kandathil Cherian Mappillai and Mariamma. He had 2 older sisters 5 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters.

Education: He passed Matriculation from Thiruvalla High School, Intermediate (F A) from C M S College, Kottayam and B A from Madras Christian College.

After passing B A., he wanted to enter the Mysore Civil Service like some of his college-mates. But his uncle Varghese Mappillai, founder of Malayala Manorama persuaded him to come back to Kerala and become a schoolteacher. He joined M D Seminary High School and became its Headmaster. Varghese Mappillai persuaded his nephew to help him in the working of Malayala Manorama.

Varghese Mappillai (his uncle) passed away in July 1904, and the mantle of publishing the newspaper fell on the shoulders of Mammen Mappillai who was just 31 years old.

He resigned his Headmastership in 1908 and took over the publishing of Manorama as full time job. He became its longest Editor. During his time Manorama became a bi-weekly in 1918 and Daily in 1928.

Along with publishing he went into a number of business projects some of which never saw the light of Day. Shipping, Road Transport, Retail Shop, Book Publications etc. were some of them. However, he gave Kerala's economy a new bounce. He used Malayala Manorama to popularise cultivation, particularly rubber, the ‘money tree’ from Brazil. Rubber eventually became backbone of Kerala midlands and continues to be so.

One of the other institutions he had started was Travancore National bank. It was later amalgamated with Quilon Bank started by C P Mathen in 1936. The new name was Travancore National & Quilon Bank.

He took active part in the struggle of the Malankara Church against the Antiochian hegemony.

He was a member of the Modern Legislative Assembly of the Erstwhile State of Travancore. He played a key role in the struggle for Civil Rights and responsible Government.

The various activities of K C Mammen Mappillai were not appreciated by the then Dewan of Travancore Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer, particularly his political activities, which had the support of his newspaper.

The Dewan of Travancore went all out to break the political activities of K C Mammen Mappillai. He made the Travancore Government seal the newspaper office. Owing to the adverse propaganda by Government the bank closed in 1938.

K C Mammen Mappillai was arrested and put in jail for 2 years.

In 1947 after India became independent, he came back to Kerala and restarted Malayala Manorama on 29th November 1947. He ran it with his eldest son K M Cherian till his death at midnight on December 3, 1953.

His anchor all through the crests and troughs was Mammy, his wife whom he married when he was just fifteen. She inspired him, comforted him and bore him nine children, all of whom made a mark in their chosen fields.

As a mark of respect to his departed soul, the Chief Minister of the then Travancore- Cochin, Sri A J John and his cabinet ministers led the funeral procession, which was a signal honour considering what the previous Dewan-led Government did to Malayala Manorama and K C Mammen Mappillai.

The K. C. Mammen Mappillai Award presented to the best student of the Manorama School of Communication was named after him.

His legacy lives on-in Malayala Manorama's undying love for freedom and in his indelible imprint on Kerala's destiny.

QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT

Why was the Quit India Movement started? In what way did it further the cause of Indian independence?

Access the importance of the Quit India Movement as the penultimate struggle for India’s independence.

Short note on Quit India Movement

 

The Quit India Movement that swept across the length and breadth of the country as a mighty tidal wave in 1942 was a landmark in the history of India’s freedom struggle. It also became famous by the name of the ‘August Revolution’. It was a powerful, multi-dimensional and all-embracing movement. The dominant urge behind the movement was the determination of the people in general to be free from the domination of the British. In this struggle, the common people of the country demonstrated an unparalleled heroism and militancy. Moreover, the repression that they faced was the most brutal that had ever been used against the national movement. The Quit India call given on 8^th August 1942 by the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Gandhi produced a mass upheaval of unprecedented dimensions. It produced a real threat to the British rule.

Genesis of Quit India: It is clear that what led Gandhiji to advice Britain to Quit India and leave her to her fate was not the desire to harass the government and strike a blow at it at the hour of its greatest peril, but an honest and earnest wish to see India get out of a very difficult position in which the unnatural domination of Great Britain had placed her.

Gandhi suspended the noncooperation movement in 1922 because of the eruption of violence, but in 1942 he decided to take the risk of violence breaking out in reply to the question put to him about the anarchy which was sure to result if the British withdrew from the country which would not be worth the anarchy prevalent under British rule which Gandhi described as ordered anarchy.

It may be added that in 1942, Gandhiji was prepared to launch the Quit India Movement even without Hindu Muslim Unity. He had realized that communal unity was impossible of achievement so long as the third party was there. With Britain’s policy of ‘divide and rule’ he was confident that communal unity would be realized after independence had been won.

Circumstances that led to the Quit India Movement: The Quit India Movement was the last in the series of mass movements launched by the Congress under the leadership of Gandhi. During the early years of the 1920s the noncooperation movement had been launched against the British rule. A decade later, Gandhi undertook the historic Dandi March to break the salt laws and the civil disobedience movement and started involving the masses of India. During the course of these years, Gandhi and the Indian National Congress were able to forge a powerful united front of the Indian people against the British. During 1930-31, Gandhi had chosen salt as a symbol of war against the British. By doing this he exposed the exploitative nature of the British rule in India. After a pause of ten years, Gandhi gave a call for the British to ‘Quit India’.

When the Second World War broke out in September 1939 and England declared war against Germany, India was also dragged into the war. The Congress demanded a declaration of British was aims and sought for India the status of an independent nation but received no response from the British government. The British authorities were keen to secure the cooperation of the Indian leaders in their war efforts by tempting them with the ‘August Declaration’. The rejection of the August Declaration widened the gulf between England and nationalist India.

Working committee of Congress met at Warda on 6^th July 1942 and adopted a lengthy resolution embodying the ideas of Gandhiji. Gandhiji believed that because of the war on the Indian border, the British would come to terms with the Congress as soon as the movement was started. Even if this did not happen, he hoped that the government would not take any drastic action and he would get time and opportunity to organize the movement as he thought proper.

Resuming the narrative, we may say that the working committee passed a long resolution on July 14, 1942 which is known as the Quit India Resolution. It renewed demand that the British rule in India must end immediately and 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 and militarism and other forms of imperialism and the aggression of one nation over another. The resolution also made it clear that the Congress proposals for the withdrawal of British rule from India was not motivated by the desire for embarrassing Great Britain or the allied powers in their prosecution of the war or encouraging Japan. It had only one purpose in view and that was the interest of India and the cause of freedom.

The All India Congress committee met on 8^th August at Gowalia Tank in Bombay to put its seal of approval to the Quit India Resolution. Some important points were:

-       ‘The ending of British rule in this country is just a vital and immediate issue on which depends the future of the war and success of freedom and democracy.

-       On the declaration of India’s independence provisional government will be formed to free India’.

The resolution was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru and seconded by Vallabhai Patel.

Huge crowds waited outside and a 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.

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 the actual struggle does not commence this moment. ‘You have only placed all your powers in my hands. I will now wait upon the Viceroy and plead with him for the acceptance of the Congress demand. The process in likely to take two or three weeks’. In the course of his speech Gandhi added, ‘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 ‘Do or Die’. We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Dismiss jails out of your consideration and take a pledge with God and your conscience as witness that you will no longer rest till freedom is achieved and will be prepared to lay down your life in the attempt to achieve it’.

The British government however was in no mood to either negotiate with the Congress or wait for the movement to be formally launched. In the early hours of 9 August, in a single sweep, all top leaders of the Congress were arrested and taken to unknown destinations and all Congress organizations were declared illegal.

The sudden attack by the government produced an instant reaction among the people. As soon as the news of arrests spread, lakhs of people in Bombay flocked to Gowalia Tank where a mass meeting had been scheduled and there were clashes with the authorities. There were similar disturbances in Ahmedabad and Poona. Gradually, the movement spread to other parts of India. Thousands of people from rural areas came out and attacked any visible symbol of British authority. In the villages, the symbol was the railway track which was used to carry troops. Hundreds of miles of the track were uprooted in one night.

Many provincial and local level leaders who had evaded arrest returned to their homes through devious routes and began organizing resistance. As the news spread further in the rural areas, the villagers joined the townsmen in their protest. For the first 6 or 7 weeks after 9 August, there was a tremendous mass upheaval all over the country. Disturbances took many forms. Communications were disrupted, electric and telephone wires were cut; police stations, post offices, courts, railway stations were attacked; even military vehicles were destroyed. Students left colleges and universities and took to rebellious activities. Workers also struck work. In Ahmedabad, the mills were closed for 3 ½ months, workers in Bombay stayed away from work for over a week. In Ballia District of UP, mobs succeeded in capturing the entire district administration and establishing their ‘Swaraj government’ although it lasted only for few days. In Bihar, one feature of the open rebellion was attack on the jails. Jails were taken possession of by mobs and prisoners were set free. National flags were forcibly hoisted on public buildings in defiance of the police. Thus, there was mob violence, lawlessness, riots and disorder in different parts of the country.

The British government pressed into service its entire machinery to suppress the Quit India Movement. Brutal force was employed to deal with the agitators. Village after village were burnt down under British supervision. Heavy fines were imposed and collected with ruthless severity. The houses of congressmen and suspected ‘rebels’ were singled out and set on fire. Several heard of cattle belonging to the agitators were rounded and auctioned. Soldiers raided the houses and looted cash, jewellery, ornaments, etc. Innumerable workers and peasants were tortured. In Patna 11 students were shot while attempting to hoist the national flag on the Government Secretariat building. Six died on the spot and one in hospital. In several parts of the country, particularly in some districts of Bengal and Central Provinces, women were raped by soldiers.

In an article in the ‘Samaj’, Baljit Singh gives a graphic picture of police atrocities on people. According to him, people were fired in scorching heat, stripped naked, hung upside down and whipped, put in smoky rooms were red chilies were burning, making the naked people crawl on their stomach and similar in human methods were employed by the police to terrorize people. According to a Congress estimate, not less than 15,000 were killed in police firings, bombings, and other atrocities.

The brutal and all-out repression by the government succeeded in bringing under control the mass phase of the struggle within 6 or 7 weeks. But the underground movement was organized by dedicated revolutionaries in different parts of the country. An all-India underground leadership with prominent members such as Achyut Patwardhan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Ram Manohar Lohia, Sucheta Kripalani, Chotubhai Puranik, Jayaprakash Narayan had also begun to emerge. The underground activities were carried on in Bombay, Poona, Satara, Baroda and other parts of Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra, UP, Bihar and Delhi. In this movement, Congress socialists were generally in the lead.

Though the number of activists involved in the underground activities was small, they received all kinds of support from a large variety of people. Even businessmen donated generously. Others provided hideouts for the underground leaders and activists. Students acted as couriers. Pilots and train drivers delivered bombs and other material across the country. Government officials including those in police, passed on crucial information about impending arrests.

The underground movement was aimed at organizing the disruption of communications by blowing up bridges, cutting telegraph and telephone wires and derailing trains. There were also a few attacks on government and police officials and police informers.

A clandestine Congress Radio was operated from different locations in Bombay, whose broadcasts could be heard as far as Madras. The Radio continued till November 1942, when it was discovered and confiscated by the police.

Gandhi commenced a fast in jail on 10 Feb 1943 in protest against the government’s constant exhortion to him to condemn the violence of the people in the Quit India Movement. Gandhi not only refused to condemn the violence of the people but held the government responsible for it. Through his fast he wanted to register his protest against the government violence, which included the unwarranted detention of thousands of congressmen. Gandhi’s fast aroused popular response. All over the country there were hartals, demonstrations and strikes. Groups of people secretly reached Poona to offer Satyagraha outside the Aga Khan palace where Gandhi was being held in detention. Public meetings were held demanding his release. Even international pressure was building up for the release of Gandhi. But the viceroy and his officials remained unmoved. The British authorities refused to show any concern for Indian feeling. The fast had done exactly what it had been intended to do. It raised the public morale, the anti-British feeling heightened and an opportunity was provided for political activity.

The Muslim League kept aloof from the Quit India Movement. It adopted an attitude of complete neutrality, neither supporting nor opposing it. It is interesting to note that according to Mr. Jinnah, the Congress aimed at capturing power for itself and establishing Hindu Raj in the country. He deliberately distorted the Congress demand for the setting up of a national government during the war to meet the demand for a Congress government and identified Congress government with Hindu Raj. Surely no one is so blind as one who having eyes refuses to see. It may be added in passing that according to Chowdary Khauzzaman, the Quit India Movement of 1942 was a very poor show which filtered out in a very short time.

Nature and significance of the Quit India Movement: The Quit India Movement was truly a multidimensional, all embracing and broad-based struggle for the freedom of India. It cut across the barriers of caste, creed, community, religion, and sex. It produced a spontaneous mass upheaval engulfing the entire country. The elite, the intelligentsia, the middle, the lower middle classes, lawyers, students, workers, artisans, craftsmen, and peasants all participated in the movement. The people of India as a whole came closer to each other and overcame class barriers. The readiness to suffer and sacrifice everything for the freedom of the motherland was displayed by a very large number of people all over the country. A significant feature of the Quit India Movement was the emergence of parallel governments in parts of the country.

The Quit India Movement brought the youth of the country in the forefront of the struggle. Students from colleges and even schools participated in the struggle in various capacities. The participation of women int the movement was really praise-worthy. Aruna Asaf Ali and Sucheta Kriplani were two major women organizers of the underground activities. Usha Mehta was an important member of the small group that ran the Congress radio.

In rural areas, peasants of all strata participated in the Quit India Movemnt specially in East UP and Bihar, Midnapur in Bengal, Satara in Maharashtra and other parts including Andhra, Gujarat and Kerala. Many smaller zamindars also participated in the movement especially in UP and Bihar.

The spontaneous mass upheaval brought in its wake conflict, violence and destruction. It produced anarchy and chaos and the government responded to the mass struggle by unleashing a reign of terror to suppress the revolt, bringing untold miseries and sufferings to the people.

The Quit India Movement of 1942 is a memorable event in the History of India’s freedom struggle. The great significance of this historic movement was that it placed the demand for independence on the immediate agenda of the national movement. After the Quit India Movement, there was no retreat. The British authorities also took note of the determination of the Indian people to face any hardships, even bullets to achieve freedom. Independence was no longer a matter of bargain.

Evaluation of Quit India Movement: For a proper evaluation of the Quit India Movement, which has been described as an open rebellion against the British rule, it must be borne in mind that it was not an organized movement. The Quit India Resolution was not a plan of action but the expression of a vivid idea. The AICC did not start any movement, it merely gave its approval to the ideas of Gandhi and authorized him to launch the movement. Gandhi contemplated an interval of two or three weeks after the adoption of the Quit India Resolution by AICC before actually starting the movement, but all this was made impossible by the sudden and first government onslaught on the Congress. As such it was easily crushed by the far superior might of the British government. No one could ever expect an unorganized and leaderless mass of people to overthrow the British might.

 

INDIA’S FREEDOM STRUGGLE AND ROLE OF MEDIA

At the time of the first war of independence, there were many newspapers operational in India. Many of these like Bangadoot of Ram Mohan Roy, Rastiguftar of Dadabhai Naoroji and Gyaneneshun advocated social reforms and thus helped arouse national awakening.

In 1857, Payam-e-Azadi started publication in Hindi and Urdu, calling upon the people to fight against the British. The paper was soon confiscated, and anyone found with a copy of the paper was persecuted for sedition.

The first Hindi daily, Samachar Doorbeen and Sultan-ul-Akhar, faced trial in 1957 for having published a ‘firman’ by Bahadur Shah Zafar, urging the people to drive the British out of India. This was followed by the notorious ‘Gagging Act’ of Lord Canning where restrictions were imposed on newspapers and periodicals.

Some newspapers played a notable role in the struggle against the British. The Hindi Patriot established in 1853 by Grish Chandra Ghosh became popular under the editorship of Harish Chandra Mukherjee. In 1861, the paper published a play, ‘Neel Darpan’ and launched a movement against the British, urging the people to stop cultivating the crop for the traders. This resulted in the formation of a Neel Commission. Later, the paper was taken over by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. The paper strongly opposed the Government’s excesses and demanded that Indians be appointed to top government posts. The Indian Mirror was the other contemporary of this paper which was very popular among the reading public.

Another newpaper Amrita Bazar Patrika which was being published from Jessore, was critical of the government, with the result that its proprietors faced trial and conviction. In 1871, the Patrika moved to Calcutta and another Act was passed to suppress it and other native journals.

Marathi Press:

Mahadev Govind Ranade, a leading leader of Maharashtra, used to write in Gyan Prakash as well as the Indu Prakash. Both these journals helped awaken the conscience of the downtrodden masses.

Another Marathi weekly, Kesari was started by Tilak from 1 Jan 1881. He along with Agarkar and Chiplunkar started another weekly journal, Mratha in English. The editor of the ‘Deccan Star’ Nam Joshi also joined them and his paper was incorporated with Maratha.

Tilak and Agarkar were convicted for writings against the British and the Diwan of Kolhapur. Tilak’s Kesari became one of the leading media to propagate the message of freedom movement. It also made the anti-partition movement of Bengal a national issue. In 1908 Tilak opposed the Sedition ordinance. He was later exiled from the country for six years. Hindi edition of Kesari was started from Nagpur and Benaras.

 

Press and the First Session of Congress

The Editors commanded a very high reputation at the time of the birth of the Indian National Congress. One could measure the extent of this respect from the fact that those who occupied the frontline seats in the first ever Congress session held in Bombay in December 1885 included some of the editors of Indian newspapers.

The first ever resolution at this Session was proposed by the editor of The Hindu, G. Subramanya Iyer. In this resolution, it was demanded that the government should appoint a committee to enquire into the functioning of Indian administration.

The second resolution was also moved by a journalist from Poona, Chiplunkar in which the Congress was urged to demand for the abolition of India Council which ruled the country from Britain.

The third resolution was supported by Dadabhai Naoroji who was a noted journalist of his time.

The fourth resolution was proposed by Dadabhai Naoroji. There were many Congress Presidents who had either been the editors or had started the publication of one or the other newspapers. In this context, particular mention may be made of Ferozeshah Mehta who had started the Bombay Chronicle and Pandit Madan Malaviya who edited daily, Hindustan. He also helped the publication of leader from Allahabad. Moti Lal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Lala Lajpat Rai inspired the publication of three journals, the Punjabi, Bandematram and the People from Lahore.

During his stay in South Africa, Gandhiji has brought out Indian Opinion and after settling in India, he started the publication of Young India; Navjeevan, Harijan, Harijan Sevak and Harijan Bandhu.

Subash Chandra Bose and C. R. Das were not journalists but they acquired the papers like Forward and Advance which later attained national status.

Jawaharlal Nehru founded the National Herald.

Revolutionary Movement and the Press

As far as the revolutionary movement is concerned, it did not begin with guns and bombs but it started with the publication of newspapers. The first to be mentioned in this context is Yugantar publication which was started by Barindra Kumar Ghosh who edited it also.

When the Ghadar party was organized in America, Lala Hardayal started publication of the journal ‘Ghadar’. Within one year, millions of copies of this journal were published in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and English and sent to India and to all parts of the world where Indians were residing. In the beginning the copies of the journal were concealed in parcels of foreign cloth sent to Delhi. It was also planned to smuggle the printing press into India for this purpose. But then the war broke out and it became almost impossible to import printing machinery from abroad. Lala Hardayal was arrested in America and deported to India. One of his followers Pandit Ramchandra started publishing Hindustan Ghadar in English. With the U.S. joining the war, the Ghadar party workers were arrested by the American Government. When the trial was on, one of the rivals of Pandit Ramchandra managed to obtain a gun and shoot himself in the jail. The death of Ramchandra led to the closure of this paper.

In 1905 Shyamji Krishna Verma started publication of a journal Indian Sociologist from London. It used to publish reports of political activities taking place at the India House in London. In 1909 two printers of this journal were convicted. Shyamji Krishna Verma left England for Paris from where he started the publication of the journal. Later on, he had to leave for Geneva. He continued to bring out the journal from there for two or three years more.

In Paris, Lala Hardayal, in collaboration with Madam Cama and Sardar Singhraoji Rana brought our Vandematram and Talwar. After Yugantar, it was Vandematram that played a significant role in the freedom struggle. This journal was established by Subodha Chandra Malik, C. R. Das and Bipin Chandra Pal on August 6, 1906. its editor, Aurobindo Ghosh, the editor of Sandhya B. Upadhyay and editor of Yugantar B.N.Dutt had to a face a trial for espousing the cause of freedom.

As far as the Hindi papers were concerned, they looked to government for support for some time. Bhartendu Harish Chandra was the first to start a journal Kavi Vachan Sudha in 1868. Its policy was to give vent to the miseries of the people of India. When the Prince of Wales visited India, a poem was published in his honor. The British authorities were given to understand that the poem could also mean that the Prince of Wales should get a shoe-beating. The government aid to journals like Kavi Vachan Sudha was stopped on account of publishing what was objectionable from the government point of view. Bhartendu Harish Chandra resigned from his post of an honorary Magistrate. His two friends, Pratap Narain Mishra and Bal Krishna started publication of two important political journals. Two friends, Pratap Narain Mishra and Bal Krishna Bhatt started publication of two important political journals Pradeep from Allahabad, and Brahman from Kanpur. The Pradeep was ordered to be closed down in 1910 for espousing the cause of freedom.

The Bharat-Mitra was a famous Hindi journal of Calcutta which started its publication on May 17, 1878 as a fortnightly. It contributed a lot in propagating the cause of freedom movement. The journal exposed the British conspiracy to usurp Kashmir.

Several other papers published from Calcutta which played an important role in freedom struggle included Ambika Prasad Vajpayee’s Swantrantra, Ramanand Chatterjee’s Modern Review in English, Pravasi Patra’ in Bengali and Vishal Bharat in Hindi.

One of the foremost Hindi journalist who has earned a name for his patriotism was Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi. In 1913, he brought out weekly Pratap from Kanpur. He made the supreme sacrifice in 1931 in the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity. Krishna Dutt Paliwal brought out Sainik from Agra which became a staunch propagator of nationalism in Western U.P.

The noted Congress leader, Swami Sharadhanand, started the publication of Hindi journal Vir Arjun and Urdu journal Tej. After the assassination of Swami Sharadhanand, Vidyavachaspathi and Lala Deshbandhu Gupta continued the publication of these journals. They were themselves prominent Congress leaders.

In Lahore, Mahashaya Khushal Chand brought out Milap and Mahashaya Krishna started publishing Urdu journals which helped a lot in promoting the national cause. In 1881, Sardar Dayal Singh Majitha on the advice of Surendra Nath Bannerjee brought out Tribune under the editorship of Sheetala Kant Chatterjee. Bipin Chandra Pal also edited this paper for sometime. Later in 1917, Kalinath Rai joined the paper as its editor.

A. G. Horniman made the Bombay chronicle a powerful instrument to promote militant nationalism. He himself took part in the meetings where Satyagraha used to be planned. He published vivid accounts of Jallianwala Bagh carnage for which one correspondent of his paper, Goverdhan Das, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by a military court. Horniman too was arrested and deported to London even though he was ill at that time.

Amritlal Shet brought out the Gujarati Journal Janmabhumi which was an organ of the people of the princely states of Kathiawad, but it became a mouthpiece of national struggle. Similarly another Gujarati journal Saanjvartman played a prominent role under the editorship of Sanwal Das Gandhi, who played a very significant role in the Quit India Movement in 1942. It was soon after independent formed a parallel Government in Junagarh and forced the Nawab of Junagarh to leave the country. The three editors of the Sindhi journal Hindi Jairam Das Daulatram, Dr. Choithram Gidwani and Hiranand Karamchand, were arrested, their press closed and the property of the paper confiscated.

In Bihar the tradition of national newspapers was carried forward by Sachidanand Sinha, who had started the publication of Searchlight under the editorship of Murtimanohar Sinha.

Dev Brat Shastri started publication of Nav Shakti and Rashtra Vani. The weekly Yogi and the Hunkar also contributed very much to the general awakening.

There is not a single province in India which did not produce a journal or newspaper to uphold the cause of freedom struggle

Ref: Introduction to Journalism – Troy Rebeiro

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