The Quit India Speech was delivered by M.K. Gandhi on 8 August 1942 in Bombay. It proclaimed the initiation of the Quit India movement, India’s third and final civil disobedience movement against British imperial rule. In his speech, Gandhi delved into themes such as his role as a national leader, the future of India’s independence, satyagraha, the importance of non-violence, the philosophy of do-or-die, the role of different sections of society such as civil servants, soldiers, princes and others, the importance of the press, and the importance of mass-level non-cooperation and protest. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was a leading figure of the Indian Independence movement beginning in the late 1910s and is credited with providing the freedom struggle a mass and diverse character, hence remembered for making sufficient contributions to the goal of Independence

Quit India Speech | Summary & Analysis

Quit India Speech | PART I 

Gandhi opens his speech by explaining his god-given position as a ‘priceless gift’ in the struggle of ahimsa (non-violence). He goes on to say that if he does not use this gift of his to address the present crisis he will not be unforgiven by god. He talks about the fight for India’s independence, and how it is a non-violent process not considering violence, military coups, or dictatorships as possibilities; he adds that when the nation is independent, its people will decide how to share power. He believes that while it is up to people to choose who governs them, Congress’s role in the freedom struggle and communal-less history must be highlighted. 

Gandhi called the Indian struggle for independence the most democratic of all, placing its ideals higher than even the French and Russian revolutions, since unlike the others the Indian movement did not employ violence. His definition of democracy includes a non-violent establishment with freedom for all and he exhorts people to leave behind their communal differences and join the freedom struggle. 

He also asks the people to differentiate between British imperialism and British people, and not extend their hatred to the latter, as hatred for just its people will make other imperialistic regimes (such as Japan’s) acceptable to Indians. He wishes to accentuate the idea that the critique must be of imperialism as a concept. 

He returns to a discussion on India’s independence and argues that its demand is not a product of mere anger but also other considerations such as the current international context. He says that until India is free it can’t show its true colors of ‘sacrifice and valor’ and that India’s current contribution to the ongoing affairs was dismal.  

He says that Indians need to let go of hatred and commit to ‘self-sacrifice’ which will make the British government unable to give freedom. He says he doesn’t feel hatred and calls himself a friend of the British, who are now in distress and need their mistakes pointed out. He wishes to warn them against the consequences of refusing Gandhi’s helping hand of friendship, which he chooses to extend, despite expected ridicule and disapproval.

Quit India Speech | PART II  

Gandhi addresses the gathering by acknowledging the power his fellows have put in him and conveying that their demands have been sent over to the viceroy and will take a few weeks before the discussion can proceed. In the meantime, he hopes to start some productive activities that everyone suggests. His suggestion is to run the spinning wheel. Besides asking people to follow the fourteen-point constructive program, he asks them to start behaving as free individuals no longer under imperial rule.

He states that is not some sort of make-believe but rather an attempt to catch the very essence of freedom, which is established the very moment a ‘slave’ decides to assert his god-given freedom from his ‘master’. He informs them of his short mantra, that is, do or die. Gandhi believed that each individual needed to stop living in perpetual slavery and start making efforts to free India or die in the process. He asks every ‘true’ congress member to pledge under god and their conscience to unwaveringly join the struggle for freedom and not be afraid of jails, as the British can’t fill everyone in jails. 

He proceeds to thank the journalists who continue to support the movement despite the regulations and restrictions they have to bear. He asks them to not be afraid of the government and to use the power of their pens to resist the government, support the Congress, and play their role in changing the political atmosphere. 

He moves on to the princes and establishes his background in the Princely states. He calls himself their faithful servant and makes a small request respectfully, that is, for them to join him in his envisioning of a free India. He seems to warn them against Nehru’s plan for India, which visualizes completely state-owned properties and would lead to a complete loss of the prince’s privileges. He gives the princes the option of joining India and becoming trustees of their property. He appears to be placating them by asking them to continue their authority and ‘innocent pleasure’, but as servants of people and not slaves of the British Empire. He reassures them such a rebellion wouldn’t be unconstitutional and would encourage the masses to follow the princes as their subjects and as Indian citizens. 

Gandhi also states that none of these rebellions should happen in secret and calls struggling in secrecy a sin. He then proceeds to address different sections of society, asking them to contribute to the freedom movement in their own capacities. 

First, he addresses the government servants. He asks them to declare their support for the Congress and the freedom struggle, if not adopting open resignation, and gives the example of Justice Ranade. He reassures them that soon he will write to the viceroy and publish that correspondence if he receives permission to and asks them to not be intimidated by official circulars and just extend support to Congress, 

He mentions the soldiers next and again asks them to not immediately resign if they don’t wish to, but asks them to reiterate their loyalty to the people in front of the government and refuse to use force against their own. He says even such a minuscule contribution will completely change the atmosphere of the movement, no matter how the British government seeks to repress or respond to it. 

Lastly, he addresses the students. He advises them against joining the movement temporarily and going back to their study. Nevertheless, he asks them to tell their professors that their loyalty lies with Congress and also asks their professors where they stand. 

Gandhi argues that if everyone involved could do the little asked of them individually, they would be able to initiate a massive change in the face of the movement even before the real fight begins. He ends his speech by thanking others for their patience and attentiveness and states that for the first time in his last twenty-two years he has let his pen and speech fritter away to say his heart. He understands that it may have strained some, but considers it important that his message is delivered to them and all of India. 

Quit India Speech | | Socio-Historical Context 

The Quit India Movement was a significant civil disobedience movement launched by the Indian National Congress (INC) during World War II, demanding an end to British colonial rule in India. The larger context of the movement and its activities was British colonialism, which is the process whereby a territory’s economic and political rights are subjugated by a foreign power to serve the interests of the latter. This process had begun in the 18th century and by the mid-19th century, following the repression of the Revolt of 1857, after which India came to be administered directly under Crown rule. Besides obvious questions of sovereignty and security, there were also concerns regarding the drain of wealth, maladministration, and racist policy-making. 

Therefore beginning from the later decades of the 19th century the subcontinent had also seen the emergence of a Nationalist struggle critiquing British rule which later converted into demands for independence. Intellectuals, social reformers, and political leaders began advocating for greater self-governance and independence from British rule. Organizations such as the Indian National Congress played a crucial role in channeling these nationalist aspirations.

Before the arrival of Gandhi in the Indian political scene the movement was divided between the Moderates and Extremists and had largely been an elite affair. He is credited with giving the National movement a mass character through his tactics of ground-level constructive work and mobilization through popular appeals. His philosophy of Satyagraha (truth-force) and his leadership played a pivotal role in mobilizing the masses and shaping the previous movements (Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience) as well. 

According to Gandhi, satyagraha was a powerful force that would coerce the imperial rule to give in by appealing to their conscience. He also believed that ensuring that the struggle was non-violent was important to avoid the possibility of counter-violence from the government to brutally repress movements in the name of peace and order. Because of the same, his speeches are heavy with appeals to non-violence and its crucial role in the becoming of a democratic state. 

His tactics usually centered on coming up with schemes of civil disobedience that could be followed by commoners and were within their possibilities. He also ensured that the political agenda of the movement was diverse and included demands that would directly benefit the common people, such as his refusal to obey the Salt Tax which was the starting point of the Civil Disobedience movement. Therefore, appeals to different sections of society to join the movement, the methods to do so, and the future benefits of the same, form an important part of Gandhi’s speech. 

By the 1940s, certain important developments had taken place which furthered the growth of the movement. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the government declared India a belligerent power without taking into consideration the opinions of elected leaders. This was met with widespread opposition. At that point, the INC made an offer to the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow that they would fully support British efforts in war if complete independence for India after the end of the war was promised. Following the VIceroy’s rejection of the offer, the Congress ministries had an atmosphere of discontentment which was furthered by increased taxes, inflation, and shortages of essential goods, exacerbating the already tense situation. It was this increasing tension that formed the immediate backdrop of Gandhi’s call for another civil disobedience movement. In his speech as well Gandhi also warned the imperial rule against rejecting his offer of friendship, especially when they find themselves in the dangerous context of a war. 

Additionally, in 1942, the British government sent Sir Stafford Cripps to India with the ‘Cripps Mission’, including proposals for constitutional reforms and greater Indian participation in the war effort. However, the Cripps Mission failed to meet Indian aspirations for full independence, leading to disillusionment and frustration among the leaders. It was becoming clearer that another push of mass mobilization was necessary to force the imperial rule to its knees. 

Besides the factors that led to the movement’s launch, it is also important to consider some limitations and causes of anxiety, which also formed a part of Gandhi’s speech. From the 1920s onwards, politics and communalism started to overlap in India. The communal divide had been increasing with time due to the emergence of communal political parties, rioting, and propaganda campaigns. Such a divide was a significant hindrance to the freedom struggle according to Gandhi, therefore, he is constantly reiterating the demands for communal harmony and it seeks to convince people to leave aside personal or communal differences and come together to end imperial rule. 

Other than communal disharmony, the question of the princely states was also an impertinent one. Princely states formed a huge territorial chunk of future sovereign India, and its integration was crucial for India’s territorial integrity, Yet, even since the suggestions of the Butler Committee (1927) appointed by the government it had become clear that even if independence was granted the British would play no active role in facilitating this independence and were rather promoting the prospect of princely states deciding on their own whether they wish to join the new nation or remains independent. In the face of such a threat, it had become important to the INC to placate or force the leaders of these states to join the future Indian Union. The princely states wished to maintain their independence and even during the Quit India movement were not actively supported by the national struggle. Hence, Gandhi appealed to these princes as their ‘servant’, to join the Indian movement and continue their rule and privileges as servants of people invested with power by the masses and the Indian state rather than use their power as slaves of imperial rule. 

Therefore, a multitude of considerations formed the backdrop of Gandhi’s strategy with regard to the Quit India movement and therefore informed the contents of his speech. 

Quit India Speech (Address at A.I.C.C., Bombay, 8 August 1942) | Literary Devices 

There has been work on how Gandhi used the elements of persuasive language – logos (the appeal to logic), ethos (used to convey the writer’s credibility and authority), and pathos (the appeal to emotion) to improve the effectiveness of his speech.

To convey his authority as the leader of the movement and the proclamation of the struggle, Gandhi argues that his role is a God-given responsibility, using ethos to institute his charge. 

‘Let me explain my position clearly. God has vouchsafed to me a priceless gift in the weapon of Ahimsa.’

He uses logos while attempting to convince different sections of society to join the movement. Particularly important is his effort to have the princely states agree with him, and he sought to do so by informing them that the offer that he presented right now is much better than what they would have to bear within Nehru’s India. 

‘As a faithful servant, it is my duty to warn the Princes that if they will act while I am still alive, the Princes may come to occupy an honorable place in free India. In Jawaharlal’s scheme of free India, no privileges or the privileged classes have a place…He likes to fly; I do not. I have kept a place for the Princes and the Zamindars in India.‘

In the same vein, he asks rhetorical questions with emotional content, using pathos, to move people to action. ove people to action. 

Requesting journalists and editors to continue their support of the national movement, he states,

‘You have the pen which the Government can’t suppress…For myself, I would not suppress my pen, even if the press was to be attached.’

He also asks people to be courageous in the face of suppression, and openly assert their support and willingness. 

‘But in the present struggle, we have to work openly and to receive bullets on our chest, without taking to heels.’ 

When talking to the soldiers, he asks them to continue their work if they wish to, but also ‘follow their hearts’ and refuse to use violence against their people. 

‘You may say to the Government, “Our hearts are with the Congress. We are not going to leave our posts. We will serve you so long as we receive your salaries. We will obey your just orders, but will refuse to fire on our own people.”…’

In order to establish the uniqueness and superiority of the civil disobedience movement that he’s proclaiming, Gandhi compares the trajectory of the freedom struggle in India to other movements abroad. He uses contrast to show that since India followed a non-violent approach, it is different and more effective than other movements. 

‘I believe that in the history of the world, there has not been a more genuinely democratic struggle for freedom than ours. I read Carlyle’s French Revolution while I was in prison, and Pandit Jawaharlal has told me something about the Russian Revolution. But it is my conviction that inasmuch as these struggles were fought with the weapon of violence they failed to realize the democratic ideal.’

Gandhi frequently asks questions and exhorts others to ask questions, rhetorical in nature, which would force the listeners to rethink their loyalties and activities in a time of political turmoil and prospective change. 

‘But I would ask them: “Do you want to remain slaves for all time? Why should you, instead of paying homage to a foreign power, not accept the sovereignty of your own people?”…‘ 

‘…”The people are now awake. How are we to withstand an avalanche before which even the Large empire is crumbling?”…‘ 

‘…”I would ask the students to say to their professors: “We belong to the Congress. Do you belong to the Congress, or to the Government”…‘

Rather than seeking a direct answer, Gandhi aims to make people introspect on their actions during a crucial time. 

He also uses imagery to make people aware of the seriousness of the issue at hand, and why they need to make decisions and join the fight. 

‘In the present crisis, when the earth is scored by the flames of Hisma and crying out for deliverance’

As a means of political mobilization, Gandhi’s speech included several literary devices which sought to improve its persuasive appeal.