HT podcast: It’s time, Quit India

In 1942, the Mahatma issued what was to become one of the most powerful and evocative slogans of the freedom struggle. He declared that it was time for the British to Quit India.

In 1939, the Second World War broke out in Europe. And India suddenly found itself as a participant in the war, on behalf of the allied powers. There was one problem — no Indian had been consulted. Indian nationalists were clear. They were opposed to Fascism in Europe, but wanted independence at home first. But, by this time, there were a range of other actors on the Indian political stage, from the Muslim League to Babasaheb Ambedkar to VD Savarkar, who had their own approach to India and the war. The British sought to leverage these contradictions within the Indian polity, encouraging those who supported British war efforts and isolating those who prioritised nationalist goals.

Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru during the All India Conference Committee Session in 1942, when the ‘Quit India’ resolution was adopted. (Getty images)

In 1942, the Mahatma issued what was to become one of the most powerful and evocative slogans of the freedom struggle. He declared that it was time for the British to Quit India. The Quit India movement commenced, and saw a fierce British crackdown, in what was to become one of the final chapters of India’s freedom struggle.

In this episode, eminent historian Srinath Raghavan, who has written a definitive book on the war and the making of modern South Asia, reconstructs India’s tremendous but often under-looked contribution to the war — 2.5 million Indians had participated, and 90,000 were killed. He explains the nationalist dilemma of those years, the roots and impact of the movement which saw the entire Congress leadership arrested, and how the war years Quit India hastened independence but also deepened India’s internal divisions.