Unity in Diversity

INTRODUCTION One of the sterling(prenominal) leaders that the initiation has ever seen, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was a semipolitical figure, a social and political reformer, a hu humannessist, a visionary and a religious leader, who took the country on the roadway to immunity. Gandhi, popularly known as the Mahatma, not only led the freedom struggle in India further in bid manner performed a pivotal determination in the struggle of the Indians for civil rights in southwest struggled Africa. Victimized by incidents of racial discrimination, Gandhi embarked on a crusade against injustice in mho Africa that he continued the rest of his spirit.The twenty dour years that Gandhi spankingd in in the south Africa, had a considerable influence on the formation of his political ideologies and the philosophies of his life. It was in southern Africa that Gandhis stature gradu eachy began to gain height. His experiences and activities in south-central Africa provided the nec essary background for his subsequent emergence onto the Indian political scenario. His greatest achievement in South Africa was perhaps the unification of the heterogeneous Indian fel deplorableship that comp work upd of disgruntled merchants and the bonded laborers.The ideological concepts with which Gandhi revolutionized the Indian political scenario were molded to a whopping extent in South Africa. The celebrate notion of Satyagraha emerged as a consequence of various influences that bailiwicked on him. He extensively sound out religious books on Hinduism, handle the BhagwatGita, and Christianity in South Africa. The works of hydrogen David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, John Ruskin and Ralph Waldo, also had authoritative influences on his thoughts.The notion of non co-operation, as a civilian weapon to fight political scienceal tyranny was discussed by only these study writers, but it was Gandhi who gave practical shape to the concept. He was the starting line iodine to organ ize Satyagraha struggle in South Africa. For Gandhi the doctrine of Satyagraha entailed hands-off resistance and commitment to the forces of truth. His second weapon, non craze or ahimsa also evolved in South Africa. This cardinal principle of Gandhian philosophy was imbibed from Jainism and Vaishnavism. Gandhi showed to the world how non violence could be utilised as an ffective political tool to fight the injustices hurled by an tyrannic organisation. For Gandhi, ahimsa entailed self sway, swaraj or self manage, and chastity. Alongside, Gandhi embraced a philosophy that disap turn up of the norms of western sandwich civilization and conceived of moral reformation of the Indians. Gandhis Arrival in South Africa Upon elapseing from Eng subvert with a degree in law, Gandhi began a legal practice in Mumbai and Rajkot, Gujarat. However, he was unsuccessful to establish a career as a lawyer in both the places.At this point, Gandhi received an furnish from the firm atomic tur n 91 Abdulla Seth and Company, to be the legal re affordative of the firm in South Africa. Gandhi involveed the offer and set sail for a whole vernal world in April, 1893. In the month of May, 1893, Gandhi reached Durban. Accompanied by dad Abdulla, one of the richest Indian traders in Natal, who also happened to be his employer, he went to forebode the Durban Court. The europiuman magistrate at the courtyard instructed Gandhi to remove his turban. He not only disobeyed the commands of the magistrate but issued a protect letter to the press.This was, however, just the lull in the fount the storm. The final examination provocation took place during his journey to Pretoria from Durban shook the intelligence of the young lawyer to such an extent that he assumed a staunch position against racial prejudice. This incident played a major routine in carving out the future course of Gandhis life. As Gandhi was preparing to return to India, after the completion of his lawsuit, the n ews of a proposed bill, to be introduced by the Natal G everywherenment, reached him. This bill would lead to disenfranchising of the Indians in South Africa.Pleaded by his first mate Indians, Gandhi remained back and took up the issue. Although the bill was passed inspite of Gandhis attempts, his crusade continued for twenty long years. As decompose of his struggle, he briefed memorandums, distributed petitions and wrote to the newspapers. His activities in South Africa enabled him to gain an form as the patron of Indian civil rights and an principal(prenominal) political leader. In the year 1896, Gandhi returned to India for a period of six months. During this period, he seek to present before the Indians, the pitiful situation f their fellow men in South Africa. However, Gandhis activities were blown out of proportion by the press in South Africa. When he landed in South Africa, an agitated kin comprising of the whites, attacked him. As the news of this attack, spread rapi dly, Joseph Chamberlain, en conjugated the prosecution of the assailants. During his second phase of stick to in South Africa, Gandhi adopted a simple mode of living, renouncing the profuse getards of living. When the Boer War broke out, Gandhi requested the Indian community, to extend their support to the British.In 1901, Gandhi returned to India but he had to return to appear before Joseph Chamberlain, to plead the Indian case. However, he failed to win over the understanding of Joseph Chamberlain. It was also at this time that Gandhi intractable to lead a celibate life and took to reading Ruskin. Satyagraha in South Africa The first Satyagraha struggle that Gandhi lay downed in South Africa was against the background of the passage of Asiatic Registration Act by the political sympathies of Transvaal in 1907.Realizing that his techniques of prayers and petitions had been relegateed ineffectual, the tactic of passive resistance emerged as the new method of opposing. He urg ed the Indian community to disobey the Act and resort to picketing of the major offices like the permit offices. In 1908, in the month of January, Gandhi and separate satyagrahis were jailed. Following this a relocation commenced where the satyagrahis began to flame the certificates in a bonfire. In the month of September, Gandhi was arrested for the second time, this time sentenced for twain months.The following year, saw Gandhi once again behind the bars for collar months. It is pertinent to mention here that Gandhi seted a sm all in all colony by the name Tolstoy Farm, where his fellow satyagrahis could lead a bare existence. The Indian women joined the Satyagraha struggle, with the pronouncement of the Supreme Court judgment that annulled all Muslim, Hindu and Zoroastrian marriages. As the women satyagrahis were arrested following their march to Newcastle, several Indian miners, under the focus of Gandhi, decided to cross over Transvaal b put in, resorting to non violence means.Even Gandhis wife Kasturba Gandhi was included among the incarcerate women satyagrahis. In the year 1913, in the month of November, fifty septette children, one hundred and twenty s tear down women and two thousand and thirty seven men resumed the march. Following the blood and iron policy adopted by regimen of South Africa, two Christian men Pearson and C. F Andrews were sent to help Gandhi. This initiative was taken by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, one of the near prominent Indian politicians. The Viceroy of India, Lord Harginge, criticized the policies of the South African presidency.Pressurized by London, negotiations commenced amongst South African Government and Gandhi. In an symmetricalness that was in conclusion arrived upon, certain concessions were do. The 13 taxes imposed on the previously indentured laborers were abolished, marriages performed according to Indian springer received legal acceptance and a domicile certificate, with the thumb upshot of the holder , was adequate to permit entrance into South Africa. With a trail of prodigious achievements behind him, Gandhi finally returned to India in the year 1915, and inside a legal brief span of time became the leader of the Indian subject fieldism.Champaran First Satyagraha Gandhi, the exponent of theSatyagraha faeces, re-create his first Satyagraha in Champaran, in Bihar. It was in 1917. The abject peasants, theindigogrowers, of the rule invited Gandhi to go in that location to see for himself the grievances of the much exploited peasants there. Champaran was on the North-western boxful of theBiharProvince. The River Gandak flows through this area. The river changed its course from time to time, leaving large lakes on its modify up courses. It was along the banks of these lakes the indigo factories were set up.There were two towns and tierce thousands villages in Champaran. 98 per cent of the hoi polloi out of the 2 million lived in villages. And most of them were Hindus. Indi go farming was going on there for or so two centuries. In the beginning, the land was owned by the topical anaesthetic people. entirely the white people from Britain grabbed the land and instead of the traditional sugar strap cultivation, the land grabbers compelled the people to enter into indigo cultivation. The British Indigo planters coerced the poor people to grow indigo on 15 per cent of their land and part with the whole crop for rent.Indigo cultivation was profitable only for the British. The topical anaesthetic peasants had only misery and penury and poverty. It was on hearing to the highest degree this predicament of the poor farmers there that Gandhi decided to go there. He left for Champaran along with a Bihari called Rajkumar Shukla. Babu Rajendra Prasad, who was to be pass off the chairman of the Constituent Assembly for lottery a constitution for the new state of India, and who became the first President of the Re domain of India, was not there, as he was pra cticing in the far away(p) Patna as an advocate.He was a special person with lot of interest in public affairs and so Gandhi went straight to his house to find that he was away inPatna. - Champaran, Bihar In Champaran, a district in state ofBihar, tens of thousands of landlessserfs,indentured laborersand poor farmers were forced to growindigoand new(prenominal) gold crops instead of the food crops which was necessary for their survival. These goods were bought from them at a very low price.Suppressed by the ruthless militias of the landlords (mostly British), they were given measly compensation, leaving them mired in extreme poverty. Now in the throes of a devastating famine, the British levied an oppressive tax which they insisted on increasing in rate. Without food and without money, the situation was emergence progressively unlivable and the peasants inChamparan beat backed against indigo plant cultivation in 1914 (atPipra) and 1916(Turkaulia) andRaj Kumar ShuklatookMahatma G andhitoChamparanand theChamparanSatyagraha began.Gandhi arrived in Champaran with a team ofeminent lawyersBrajkishore Prasad,Rajendra Prasad,Anugrah Narayan Sinhaand others including Acharya kripalani. - Kheda, Gujarat A famine had taken with(p) the district and a large part of Gujarat, and virtually destroyed the agrarian economy. The poor peasants had barely enough to feed themselves, but the British political science of theBombay Presidencyinsisted that the farmers not only pay full taxes, but also pay the 23% increase stated to take effect that every year. Gandhis solution While many civic groups sent petitions and published editorials, Gandhi proposedsatyagraha non-violence, voltaic pilecivil disobedience. While it was strictly non-violent, Gandhi was proposing real action, a real churn up that the oppressed peoples of India were dying to undertake.. Gandhi also insisted that n all the professors in Bihar nor in Gujarat name to or try to propagate the concept ofSwaraj, or Independence. This was not about political freedom, but a revolt against abject tyranny amidst a pixilated humanitarian disaster.While accepting participants and help from other part of India, Gandhi insisted that no other district or province revolt against the Government, and that theIndian National coitusnot get involved apart from issuing resolutions of support, to proscribe the British from giving it brace to use extensive suppressive measures and instigant the revolts as treason. In Champaran Gandhi established anashramin Champaran, organizing scores of his veteran supporters and warm volunteers from the region.He nonionised a detailed study and survey of the villages, accounting the atrocities and terrible episodes of suffering, including the general state of degenerate living. Building on the confidence of villagers, he began leading the clean-up of villages, building of schools and hospitals and encouraging the village leadership to undo purdah, untouchability and th e forbiddance of women. He was joined by many young nationalists from all over India, includingBrajkishore Prasad,Rajendra Prasad,Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Ram Navami Prasad andJawaharlal Nehru.But his main assault came as he was arrested by practice of law on the charge of creating unrest and was ordered to leave the province. Hundreds of thousands of people protested and rallied outside the jail, law stations and courts demanding his release, which the court unwillingly did. Gandhi led organized protests and take up against the landlords, who with the focal point of the British government, signed an agreement granting more compensation and control over farming for the poor farmers of the region, and cancellation of revenue hikes and collection until the famine ended.It was during this agitation, that Gandhi was turn to by the people asBapu(Father) andMahatma(Great Soul). In Kheda In Gujarat, Gandhi was only the spiritual head of the struggle. His chief lieutenant,Sardar Vallabh bhai Pateland a close coterie of devoted Gandhians, viz.Narhari Parikh,Mohanlal PandyaandRavi Shankar Vyastoured the countryside, organized the villagers and gave them political leadership and direction.Many aroused Gujaratis from the cities ofAhmedabadandVadodarajoined the organizers of the revolt, but Gandhi and Patel resisted the mesh of Indians from other provinces, seeking to keep it a purely Gujarati struggle. Patel and his colleagues organized a major tax revolt, and all the different ethnic and caste communities of Kheda rallied or so it. The peasants of Kheda signed a petition calling for the tax for this year to be scrapped in wake of the famine. The government in Bombay rejected the charter.They warned that if the peasants did not pay, the lands and keeping would be confiscated and many arrested. And once confiscated, they would not be returned even if most complied. no(prenominal) of the villages flinched. The tax withheld, the governments collectors and inspectors sent in thugs to seize property and cattle, magic spell the jurisprudence forfeited the lands and all agrarian property. The farmers did not resist arrest, nor retaliate to the force employed with violence. Instead, they used their cash and valuables to donate to the Gujarat Sabhawhich was officially organizing the protest.The revolt was astounding in terms of discipline and unity. Even when all their personalised property, land and livelihood were seized, a vast majority of Khedas farmers remained firmly linked in the support of Patel. Gujaratis consonant to the revolt in other split resisted the government machinery, and helped to shelter the relatives and property of the protesting peasants. Those Indians who sought to buy the confiscated lands were ostracized from society. Although nationalists likeSardul Singh Caveesharcalled for sympathetic revolts in other parts, Gandhi and Patel firmly rejected the idea.The Government finally sought to foster an honorable agreement fo r both parties. The tax for the year in question, and the next would be suspended, and the increase in rate reduced, while all confiscated property would be returned. Gujaratis also worked in cohesion to return the confiscated lands to their just owners. The ones who had bought the lands seized were influenced to return them, even though the British had officially said it would stand by the buyers Non-Cooperation faecal matter TheNon-Cooperation impetuswas a significant phase of theIndian struggle for freedomfromBritish rule.This relocation lasted from September 1920 to February 1922. It was led byMahatma Gandhiand was back up by theIndian National sexual congress. It aimed to resist British occupation in India through non-violent means. Protestors would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts, picket liquor shops, and try to uphold the Indian values of find and integrity. TheGandhianideals ofAhimsaornon-violence, and his ability to rally hundreds of t housands of parkland citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were first seen on a large shell in this course.Among the significant causes of this style were colonial oppression, exemplified by theRowlatt ActandJallianwala Bagh holeacre, sparing hardships to the common man due to a large chunk of Indian wealth macrocosm exported to Britain, ruin of Indian artisans due to British factory- do goods replacing oversewn goods, and popular resentment with the British over Indian soldiers dying inWorld War Iwhile fighting as part of theBritish Army , in battles that otherwise had nothing to do with India.The calls of archaeozoic political leaders likeMohammad Ali Jinnah(who later became communal and hardened his stand),Annie BesantandBal Gangadhar Tilak( sexual intercourse Extremists) forrule were tended to(p) only by petitions and major public meetings. They never resulted in disorder or obstruction of government services. Partly due to that, the British did not take th em very thoughtfully. The non-cooperation proceeding aimed to ensure that the colonial economic and power structure would be seriously challenged, and British authorities would be forced to take notice of the peoples demands. Here we should know that many evolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad were supporters of this very movement but were really dissatisfied by the dismissing of movement by Gandhiji. obliging disobedience apparent movement Under the leadership of Gandhiji, the complaisant noncompliance Movement was launched in AD 1930. It began with the Dandi sue. On 12 March 1930, Gandiji with many of his followers left the Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad and made their way towards Dandi, a village on the west coast of India. After travelling for xxv sidereal eld and covering a distance of three hundred and cardinal kms, the group reached Dandi on 6 April 1930.Here, Gandhiji protested against the Salt Law (salt was a monopoly of the government and no one was allowed to make salt) by making slat himself and throwing up a challenge to the British government. The Dandi March signified the start of the urbane Disobedience Movement. The movement spread and salt laws were challenged in other parts of the country. Salt became the symbol of peoples defiance of the government. In Tamil Nadu, C Rajagopalchari led a similar march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam. In Gujarat, Sarojini Naidu pretested in front of the slat depots.Lakhs of people including a large number of women participated readyly in these protests. The urbane Disobedience Movement carried forward the unfinished work of the Non-Cooperation Movement. Practically the whole country became involved in it. Hartals put life at a standstill. There were large-scale boycotts of schools, colleges and offices. Foreign goods were burnt in bonfires. People stopped paying taxes. In the North-West enclosure Province, the movement was led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as Front ier Gandhi. For a hardly a(prenominal) twenty-four hourss, British control over Peshawar and Sholapur ended.People faced the batons and bullets of the police with supreme courage. No one retaliated or said anything to the police. As reports and photographs of this one(prenominal) protest began to appear in newspapers across the world, there was a ontogeny tide of support for Indias freedom struggle. The courteous Disobedience Movement led by M K Gandhi, in the year 1930 was an important milestone in the narration of Indian Nationalism. There are three distinct phases that mark the development of Indian Nationalism. In the first phase, the political theory of the moderates dominated the political scenario. This was ollowed by the prominence of the extremist ideologies. In the ordinal phase of Indian Nationalism the most significant incident was the evidence of MK Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, to power as the leader of Indian National Movements. Under his spirite d guidance, the National Movements of the country took shape. The Indians learnt how apparently philosophical tenets like non violence and passive resistance, could be used to wage political battles. The programs and policies adopted in the movements spearheaded by Gandhi reflected his political ideologies of ahimsa and Satyagraha.While the Non-Co-Operation Movement was built on the lines of non violent non co operation, the essence of The Civil Disobedience Movement was defying of the British laws. Through his leadership to the National Movements, he not only buttress his political stance but also played a critical use in unification of the country, awakening of the masses, and bringing politics within the arena of the common man. Factors Leading to the Civil Disobedience Movement The overabundant political and social circumstances played a vital role in the launching of the Civil Disobedience Movement.The Simon commitment was formed by the British Government that included sole ly the members of the British Parliament, in November 1927, to draft and formalize a constitution for India. The chairmanship of the commission rested with Sir John Simon, who was a wholesome known lawyer and an English statesman. Accused of being an All-White Commission, the Simon Commission was rejected by all political and social segments of the country. In Bengal, the rivalry to the Simon Commission assumed a massive scale, with a hartal being observe in all corners of the province on February 3rd, 1928.On the occasion of Simons arrival in the city, demonstrations were conducted in Calcutta. In the wake of the boycott of the recommendations proposed by Simon Commission, an All-Party Conference was organized in Bombay in May of 1928. Dr MA Ansari was the president of the conference. Motilal Nehru was given the function to preside over the drafting committee, appointed at the conference to rise a constitution for India. Barring the Indian Muslims, The Nehru Report was endorse d by all segments of the Indian society.The Indian National Congress pressurized the British government to accept all the parts the Nehru Report, in December 1928. At the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress held in December, 1928, the British government was warned that if India was not give the status of a dominion, a Civil Disobedience Movement would be initiated in the entire country. Lord Irwin, the governor General, after a few months, declared that the final objective of the constitutional reforms was to grant the status of a dominion to India.Following this declaration, Gandhi along with other national leaders requested the Governor General to adopt a more liberal attitude in solving the constitutional crisis. A demand was made for the release of the political prisoners and for holding the suggested Round Table Conference for reflecting on the problems regarding the constitution of the country. None of the efforts made by the Congress received any favorable ans wer from the British government. The patience of the Indian masses were wearing out. The political intelligentsia of the country was sure that the technique of persuasion would not be efficacious with the British government.The Congress had no other recourse but to launch the Civil Disobedience Movement. In Bardoli, the peasants had already taken to Satyagraha under the guidance of Sardar Patel in the year 1928. Their non tax agitations were partially successful. The Congress took the decision to use the non violent weapon of Satyagraha on a nation wide scale against the government. The prepare of the Civil Disobedience Movement MK Gandhi was urged by the Congress to render his much needed leadership to the Civil Disobedience Movement.On the historic day of 12th March 1930, Gandhi inaugurated The Civil Disobedience Movement by conducting the historic Dandi Salt March, where he broke the Salt Laws imposed by the British Government. Followed by an entourage of seventy social club a shramites, Gandhi embarked on his march from his Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi that is turn up on the shores of the Arabian Sea. On 6th April 1930, Gandhi with the accompaniment of seventy nine satyagrahis violated the Salt Law by picking up a fistful of salt lying on the sea shore. They manually made salt on the shores of Dandi. Dandi Salt March had an immense impact on the entire nation.Each and every corner of the country was gripped in a alone(p) fervor of nationalism. Soon this act of violation of the Salt Laws assumed an all India percentage. The entire nation amalgamated under the call of a individual(a) man, Mahatma Gandhi. There were reports of satyagrahas and instances of law violation from Bombay, Central and United Provinces, Bengal and Gujarat. The program of the Civil Disobedience Movement incorporated besides the breaking of the Salt Laws, picketing of shops change foreign goods and liquor, bonfire of cloth, refusal to pay taxes and avoidance of offices by the public officers and schools by the students.Even the women joined forces against the British. Those from orthodox families did not hesitate to respond to the call of the Mahatma. They took active part in the picketing exercises. Perturbed by the growing popularity of the movement, the British government jail Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, in a bid to thwart it. Thus, the second struggle for attaining Swaraj launched by the Congress, under the able guidance of Mahatma, served the critical function of mobilizing the masses on a large scale against the British. Gandhi-Irwin PactIn the March of 1930, Gandhi met with the Viceroy, Lord Irwin and signed an agreement known as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. The two main clauses of the pact entailed Congress involution in the Round Table Conference and cessation of The Civil Disobedience Movement. The Government of India released all satyagrahis from prison. Renewal of the Civil Disobedience Movement Gandhi attended The Second Round Table Conferenc e in London accompanied by Smt. Sarojini Naidu. At this Conference, it was claimed by Mahatma Gandhi that the Congress represented more than fourscore five percent of the Indian population.Gandhis claim was not endorsed by the British and also the Muslim representative. The Second Round Table Conference proved to be futile for the Indians and Gandhi returned to the country without any positive result. The political setting in India thereafter assumed an acute dimension. The Viceroy, Lord Willingdon, in the absence of Gandhi, adopted the policy of repression. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was violated and the Viceroy took to the suppression of the Congress. The unprogressive party, which was in power in England, complied with the decision to assume a repressing stance against the Congress and the Indians.The Congress was held responsible by the government to feed instigated the Red Shirts to participate in The Civil Disobedience Movement, led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar and provoking the cult ivators of U. P to refuse to pay land revenue. Adding to this was the serious economic crisis that took hold of the country. Under such circumstances, the resumption of The Civil Disobedience Movement was inevitable. The Congress Working Committee took the decision to restart The Civil Disobedience Movement, as the British government was not prepared to relent.Gandhi resumed the movement in January 1932 and appealed to the entire nation to join in. The Viceroy was also inform of the stance assumed by the Congress. Four ordinances were promulgated by the government to deal with the situation. The police was given the power to arrest any person, even on the basis of mere suspicion. Sardar Patel, the President of Congress and Gandhi were arrested, along with other Congressmen. The second phase of The Civil Disobedience Movement lacked the organization that marked its first phase.Nonetheless the entire nation put up a unvoiced fight and the movement continued for six months. Gandhi c ommenced his twenty one days of fast on May 8th, 1933, to make amends for the sins committed against the untouchables by the caste Hindus. The Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended, when Mahatma Gandhi withdrew mass Satyagraha on July fourteenth 1933. The movement ceased completely on April 7th 1934. Although The Civil Disobedience Movement failed to achieve any positive outcome, it was an important juncture in the history of Indian independence. The leadership of Mahatma Gandhi had a beneficial impact.The warring factions within the Congress united under the aegis of The Civil Disobedience Movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi. Satyagraha was put on a firm footing through its large scale usage in the movement. Last but not the least(prenominal) India rediscovered its inherent strength and confidence to crusade against the British for its freedom. start India Movement The ascendancy of Mahatma Gandhi in the political scenario of pre Independence India, bears a close alliance to the roles that he discharged in the three National Movements namely The Non Co-Operation Movement, The Civil Disobedience Movement and The Quit India Movement.All the three movements were structured following the celebrated political ideologies of Gandhi. Satyagraha or passive civilian resistance and ahimsa or non violence became the unique weapons of Indian National Movements. However, The Quit India Movement departed significantly from the preceding movements in that it lacked organization and widespread violence became a common feature of the movement. Nevertheless, The Quit India Movement occupies a special place in the history of Indian struggle for freedom for taking the final tint towards Indias independence under the able leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.Gandhis inspiring arguing We shall either free India or die in the attempt we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery ignited the sentiments of Indians across the nation. Factors Contributing to the Launch of Quit India Movement In 1939, with the outbreak of war between Germany and Britain, India was announced to be a party to the war for being a divisor component of the British Empire. Following this declaration, the Congress Working Committee at its meeting on 10th October, 1939, passed a resolution condemning the truculent activities of the Germans.At the same time the resolution also stated that India could not pertain herself with war as it was against Fascism. There was hardly any difference between British colonialism and Nazi totalitarianism. Responding to this declaration, the Viceroy issued a statement on October seventeenth wherein he claimed that Britain is waging a war driven by the motif to substantiate peace in the world. He also stated that after the war, the government would initiate modifications in the Act of 1935, in accordance to the desires of the Indians.Gandhis reaction to this statement was the old policy of divide and rule is to continue. The Congress has asked for bread and it has got stone. match to the instructions issued by High Command, the Congress ministers were directed to resign immediately. Congress ministers from eight provinces resigned following the instructions. The resignation of the ministers was an occasion of great joy and merriment for leader of the Muslim League, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He called the day of 22nd December, 1939 The Day of Deliverance. Gandhi urged Jinnah against the solemnisation of this day, however, it was futile.At the Muslim League Lahore Session held in March 1940, Jinnah declared in his presidential address that the Muslims of the country wanted a separate homeland, Pakistan. In the meanwhile, crucial political events took place in England. Chamberlain was succeeded by Churchill as the found Minister and the Conservatives, who assumed power in England, did not have a sympathetic stance towards the claims made by the Indians. In order to mollify the Indians in the circumstance of worsening war sit uation, the Conservatives were forced to concede some of the demands made by the Indians.On August 8th, the Viceroy issued a statement that has come to be referred as the August Offer. However, the Congress rejected the offer followed by the Muslim League. In the context of widespread dissatisfaction that prevailed over the rejection of the demands made by the Congress, Gandhi at the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Wardha revealed his plan to launch Individual Civil Disobedience. Once again, the weapon of Satyagraha found popular acceptance as the best means to wage a crusade against the British. It was widely used as a mark of protest against the unwavering stance assumed by the British.Vinoba Bhave, a follower of Gandhi, was selected by him to initiate the movement. Anti war speeches ricocheted in all corners of the country, with the satyagrahis earnestly openhearted to the people of the nation not to support the Government in its war endeavors. The consequence of th is satyagrahi campaign was the arrest of almost fourteen thousand satyagrahis. On 3rd December, 1941, the Viceroy ordered the acquittal of all the satyagrahis. In Europe the war situation became more critical with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Congress cognise the necessity for appraising their program.Subsequently, the movement was withdrawn. The Cripps Mission and its failure also played an important role in Gandhis call for The Quit India Movement. In order to end the deadlock, the British government on 22nd March, 1942, sent Sir Stafford Cripps to talk terms with the Indian political parties and secure their support in Britains war efforts. A Draft contract of the British Government was presented, which included terms like governing body of Dominion, establishment of a Constituent Assembly and right of the Provinces to make separate constitutions.These would be, however, tending(p) after the cessation of the Second World War. According to the Congress this reso luteness only offered India a promise that was to be fulfilled in the future. Commenting on this Gandhi said It is a post dated cheque on a crashing bank. Other factors that contributed were the threat of Japanese invasion of India, rule of terror in East Bengal and realization of the national leaders of the incapacity of the British to typify their India. Gandhis Call for Quit India Sir Stafford Cripps left the country amidst unprecedented excitement.Immediately after the return of Sir Stafford Cripps, Gandhi announced Quit India as the war cry for the Indians. To quote Gandhi, The comportment of the British in India is an invitation to Japan to invade India. Their withdrawal removes that bait . Gandhi realized that the time was ripe to take some strong and quick actions. He wrote a series of articles in Harijan where he urged the people to rise in action. He was in favor of resorting to direct action. In order to give effect to the Mahatmas views, The Congress Working Committee adopted the well known Quit India Resolution, on July 14th 1942 at Wardha.The All India Congress Committee accepted this resolution with some modifications, on 8th August, 1942 in Bombay. The very next day, on 9th August, eminent Congress leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jaeaharlal Nehru and Abul Kalam Azad were arrested. The masses were left without any guidance. Gandhis do or die call for the people created an upheaval in the country. But at the same time, Gandhi mentioned specifically that mass movement should be conducted following non violent means.The Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, adopted a policy of harsh repression all over the country and gory instances of British atrocities abounded all over. This ruined the atmosphere of non violence in the country. Unlike the other two movements, the Non-Co-Operation and the Civil Disobedience Movement that unleashed under the aegis of Mahatma Gandhi, the Quit India Movement captures the quintessence of a spontaneous rising b y the people. The Quit India Movement, inaugurated at the call of the Mahatma, unfolded in four phases. In the first phase there were strikes, processions, demonstrations and processions.This phase lasted for a period of three to four days and commenced from the day of Gandhis arrest on August 9th, 1942. The factory and mill workers rose to the cause and displayed maximum vigor and enthusiasm. The government took recourse to repressive measures to subdue the movement. In an incident of open fire in Bombay, the casualties included large number of women and children. Raids of municipal and government buildings characterized the second phase of the movement. Police stations, post offices and railroad track stations were attacked and set ablaze.Attempts were made by the agitated mobs to capture court buildings. Troops fired to control mob fury. September 1942, marks the beginning of the third phase of the movement. It is said that during this phase of the movement, the mob threw bombs on the police in Madhya Pradesh, Bombay and Uttar Pradesh. With the emergence of the movement into the fourth phase, it gained back its peaceful character and extended till Mahatma Gandhi was released from prison in May, 1944. Quit India movement was Gandhis final bid to secure Indias independence.Although, many diverse political ideologies crowded the scenario of Indian National Movement at that time, yet it was the Satyagraha adopted by Gandhi that finally had the most telling effect in challenging the British authorities. India was at the very threshold of Independence by the end of the Quit India movement and Gandhis long cherished dream was about to be realized. Quit India movement sealed the success for satyagraha as a policy of political resistance, and Gandhis role as the chief moving force behind Indias Independence came to be universally accepted, although dark clouds of a communal fissure still lurked in the background.