The Clarion Call to Quit India at the AICC in Bombay

Words have the power to change history; they leave an indelible imprint on the minds and imaginations of people, transforming even the most fearful millions into mighty heroes. Gandhiji’s rallying cry to ‘Do or Die’ at the Gowalia Tank Maidan (now August Kranti Maidan) in Bombay district (Maharashtra) had this magical power. The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting in Bombay on 08 August 1942 adopted the resolution to Quit India, and end British rule in the country. It was the failure of the Cripps Mission, the Japanese military victories in South-East Asia, and widespread dissatisfaction with the British administration in India that ignited the Quit India Movement. In fact, these were just a few of the events that prompted this clarion call. The 'Do or Die' call, which stated, 'We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of slavery,' resulted in the arrest of most of the movement's top leaders, including Gandhiji, on 09 August 1942. While on one hand leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, Jay Prakash Narayan, Usha Mehta, Aruna Asaf Ali, and other underground activists persisted relentlessly with the mission, on the other hand, the British brutally suppressed the Quit India campaign, killing protesters, lathi charging them, torching villages, and imposing harsh penalties. Thus, more than anything else, the clarion call ‘Do or Die’ mobilized the Indian populace against British rule. Even though most protests had been brutally clamped down by the British, Gandhiji continued to oppose the government after his release in 1944. By the end of World War II, Britain’s stance had significantly changed, thereby rendering the case for independence irrefutable.