Revisiting 42: 75 Years of Quit India Movement
The start of Quit India Movement in August 1942 marks a defining moment in the history of India’s freedom struggle. Coming on the backdrop of the Second World War, this call by Mahatma Gandhi from Bombay is a watershed in Indian history because it showed an assertive, aggressive and decisive attitude by the national leaders towards the British who were occupying India. The success of the movement may be debatable but its significance cannot be doubted. In celebrating 75 years of that movement through exhibition and seminar we try to reignite the debate, query its efficacy, evaluate the part played by Gandhi, question the roles of Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha, and investigate its legacy by interrogating the advent of figures of Jay Prakash Narayan and others. This framing of the movement is necessary for the newer generation to take note of through the discussions initiated by noted historians and intellectuals of a generation that was the direct inheritor of the eventual freedom that followed this movement.
