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Indian Freedom Struggle (1707–1947 A.D.)

Notes In Tamluk in the Midnapur district of Bengal, the Jatiya Sarkar came into existence on 17 December,
1942 and lasted till September 1944. Tamluk was an area where Gandhian constructive work had
made considerable headway and it was also the scene of earlier mass struggles. The Jatiya Sarkar
undertook cyclone relief work, gave grants to schools and organized an armed Vidyut Vahini. It
also set up arbitration courts and distributed the surplus paddy of the well-to-do to the poor.
Being located in a relatively remote area, it could continue its activities with comparative ease.
Satara, in Maharashtra, emerged as the base of the longest-lasting and effective parallel government.
From the very beginning of the Quit India Movement, the region played an active role. In the first
phase from August 1942, there were marches on local government headquarters, the ones on
Karad, Tasgaon and Islampur involving thousands. This was followed by sabotage, attacks on
post offices, the looting of banks and the cutting of telegraph wires. Y.B. Chavan, who had contacts
with Achyut Patwardhan and other underground leaders, was the most important leader. But by
the end of 1942, this phase came to an end with the arrest of about two thousand people. From the
very beginning of 1943, the underground activists began to regroup, and by the middle of the
year, succeeded in consolidating the organization. A parallel government or Prati Sarkar was set
up and Nani Patil was its most important leader. This phase was marked by attacks on Government
collaborators, informers and talatis or lower-level officials and Robin Hood-style robberies. Nyayadan
Mandals or people’s courts were set up and justice dispensed. Prohibition was enforced, and
‘Gandhi marriages’ celebrated to which untouchables were invited and at which no ostentation
was allowed. Village libraries were set up and education encouraged. The native state of Aundh,
whose ruler was pro-nationalist and had got the constitution of his state drafted by Gandhiji,
provided invaluable support by offering refuge and shelter to the Prati Sarkar activists. The Prati
Sarkar continued to function till 1945.
The Quit India Movement marked a new high in terms of popular participation in the national
movement and sympathy with the national cause. As in earlier mass struggles, the youth were in
the forefront of the struggle. Students from colleges and even schools were the most visible element,
especially in the early days of August (probably the average age of participants in the 1942
struggle was even lower than that in earlier movements). Women, especially college and school
girls, played a very important role. Aruna Asaf Ali and Sucheta Kripalani were two major women
organizers of the underground, and Usha Mehta an important member of the small group that ran
the Congress Radio. Workers were prominent as well, and made considerable sacrifice by enduring
long strikes and braving police repression in the streets.
Peasants of all strata, well-to-do as well as poor, were the heart of the movement especially in East
U.P. and Bihar, Midnapur in Bengal, Satara in Maharashtra, but also in other parts including
Andhra, Gujarat and Kerala. Many smaller zamindars also participated, especially in U.P. and
Bihar. Even the big zamindars maintained a stance of neutrality and refused to assist the British in
crushing the rebellion. The most spectacular of these was the Raja of Darbhanga, one of the biggest
zamindars, who refused to let his armed retainers be used by the Government and even instructed
his managers to assist the tenants who had been arrested. A significant feature of the pattern of
peasant activity was its total concentration on attacking symbols of British authority and a total
lack of any incidents of anii-zamindar violence, even when, as in Bihar, East U.P., Satara, and
Midnapur, the breakdown of Government authority for long periods of time provided the
opportunity. Government officials, especially those at the lower levels of the police and the
administration, were generous in their assistance to the movement. They gave shelter, provided
information and helped monetarily. In fact, the erosion of loyalty to the British Government of its
own officers was one of the most striking aspects of the Quit India struggle. Jail officials tended to
be much kinder to prisoners than in earlier years, and often openly expressed their sympathy.
While it is true that Muslim mass participation in the Quit India Movement was not high, yet it is
also true that even Muslim League supporters gave help by providing shelter to underground
workers and did not act as informers. Also, there was a total absence of any communal clashes, a
sure sign that though the movement may not have aroused much support from among the majority
of the Muslim masses, it did not arouse their hostility either.

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