Category Civics

Subhash Chandra Bose led a serious armed struggle against the British during the Second World War. In 1943, he went to Japan to plan an attack on the British and win independence for India with Japan’s help.

Bose took charge of the famous Indian National Army also known as the INA or the Azad Hind Fauj, which was formed with the help of Rash Behari Bose and Mohan Singh. It is here that Subhash Chandra Bose came to known as Netaji.

 The INA set up an independent government in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It then entered into India through Burma, and captured Kohima after severe fighting with the British army. The INA tried to capture Imphal also but Japan was having troubles of its own, and could not give the help expected.

Continue reading “What was the role of the INA in India’s freedom struggle?”

 The Quit India Movement was a civil disobedience movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, at the Bombay Session of the All India Congress Committee.

A resolution was passed demanding an immediate end to the British rule. A mass non-violent struggle was organized on the widest scale possible. Gandhiji’s slogan of ‘Do or Die’ inspired millions of Indians, and strengthened their determination to die rather than give up the goal of freedom. The British response to the movement was quick. The Congress was banned, and most of its leaders were arrested before they could start mobilizing the people.

The people, however, were unstoppable. They attacked all symbols of the British government such as railway stations, law courts, and police stations. Railway lines were damaged, and telegraph lines were cut. In some places, people even formed alternative governments. The British responded with terrible brutality.

 However, though they could oppress the people, they could not suppress the people’s demand that foreign rulers should quit India. 

The British were prepared for a massive uprising by the Indians. Within a few hours of a speech by Gandhiji calling for an orderly withdrawal of the British from Indian soil, the top leaders of the Indian National Congress leaders were swiftly arrested.

Continue reading “How did the British respond to the Quit India Movement?”

 Jayaprakash Narayan or JP as he was lovingly called was a disciple of Gandhiji, a political leader and social reformer.

Narayan became secretary of the Congress party when Nehru was its leader. When all the other party leaders were arrested, Narayan carried on the struggle against the British. He was one of the frontrunners of the Quit India Movement.

During World War II, Narayan became a national hero by leading violent opposition to the British. He engineered strikes, train wrecks, and riots. Jayaprakash Narayan met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Ashok Mehta, and other national leaders when he was put behind bars in 1932 because of the civil disobedience movement.

After JP came out of jail, he along with others established the Congress Socialist Party. JP was repeatedly jailed by the British during the freedom struggle, and his escapes and heroic activities captured the public’s imagination. 

Between 1916 and 1918, prominent Indian leaders and patriots decided to organize a national alliance of leagues across India, specifically to demand home rule.

The Home Rule Movement was aimed at bringing about self-government for India in the British Empire, as well to work towards national education, and political reforms.

Continue reading “What was the Home Rule Movement?”

  Though the partition of Bengal was in 1905, the partition proposals had been in the public eye as early as 1903.

 The strong sense of unity among Bengalis, as well as the cultural development of 19th century, and the spread of western education all gave birth to a vehement resistance to the idea of dividing Bengal.

 The Swadeshi Movement had its roots in this anti-partition movement. Its chief architects were Aurobindo Ghosh, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Lala Lajpat Rai.

 The Swadeshi Movement began as an economic boycott of all foreign goods and the promotion of domestic production and manufacturing processes. Later on, the economic boycott receded into background with the passage of time, and it developed into an idea of non-cooperation with the British in every field.