‘Quit India’ movement was launched

August 8, 1942: The ‘Quit India’ Movement was a civil disobedience movement in India launched, in response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call for the immediate independence of India. Its aim was to bring the British government to the negotiating table through determined, but passive resistance. Unilaterally and without consultation, the British had entered India into World War II, arousing the indignation of large numbers of Indian people.

The Indian National Congress passed a resolution demanding complete independence from Britain and massive civil disobedience. On August 8, 1942, the Quit India Resolution was passed at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

In a speech entitled, “Do or Die,” given on August 8, 1942, Gandhi urged the masses to act as an independent nation and not to follow the orders of the British. His call found support among a large number of Indians, including revolutionaries who were not necessarily party to Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence.