Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eter na l I nd ia encyclopedia

FREEDOM MOVEMENT

which was having its effect on the minds of the people of India. This was particularly so on account of the broadcasts of Subhas Chan- dra Bose from Berlin in the Indian languages. Another reason was that Mahatma Gandhi re- volted against the racial discrimination in the process of evacuation from Burma. The Brit- ish provided separate routes for the evacu- ation of the Europeans and Indians. Due to this the Indian evacuees had to undergo too many hardships. The scorched earth policy followed by the British government in India was another cause. The lands belonging to the people of India were taken for military purposes and they were not given adequate compensation. A lot of force was used by the government while getting the houses of peasants evacu- ated for the military. Gandhi tried to seek an understanding with Jinnah on the basis of what was known as the ‘Rajajiformula'. The formula devised by C. Rajagopalachari in 1942 proposed that Congress should placate the League by recog- nising the right of contiguous Muslim- major- ity districts to secede from India after inde- pendence. Earlier Gandhi had not liked the idea but as by then Pakistan had become a dis- tinct possibility, he discussed it with Jinnah so that the Congress and League could once again present a united front to Britain. But Jinnah's strategy was to pit the Congress and the government against each other to get the best deal out of both. So he dismissed Gandhi's gesture. He said that all the six Muslim - majority provinces should be allowed to se- cede in their entirety. But there is also a bright side of what may be termed the last fight for freedom in India against the British. The great revolt of 1942 was really a soldier's battle. All glory to the soldiers, who gave a good account of themselves and laid down their lives as martyrs to the cause of their country's free- dom. The following tribute was paid by Sar- dar Patel: "Never before had such widespread up- risings happened in India in the history of the British Raj, as they did during the last three years. We are proud of the spirit in which the people reacted. ........ The leaders were all of a sudden kidnapped from the midst of the people and the people acted on the spur of the moment .... Gandhiji may not he there to guide the next struggle. Non-violence had taken no doubt deep roots, but one had to face the reality that violence was the order of the day in the whole world. It would be like the Devil

quoting the scriptures, if the world outside criticised India if she switched over from non- violent to violent attempts to regain independ- ence. ” Letters to All Fighters of Freedom

the creation of a mass psychology of the rebellion is also absent today. But while it is not in our power to provide the first element, we can and should remedy the situation in respect of the second....In August last the masses had before their eyes the concrete power of the Congress and the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Today if they are made to feel that they are left alone, that there- is no organised force in the country, which remains undefeated and continues the struggle, they would naturally sink down into despair and resign themselves to their Kismet. The present, therefore, is a stage primar- ily for the enlisted soldiers of Revolution, the irreconcilable fighters of freedom to act in. They must strengthen their organization and carry ceaseless war into the enemy. No suffer- ing, no sacrifice should be counted too great; no controversy, no temptation, no false hope should deflect our course.. All avenues of struggle are open to us. Whatever be our faiths and creeds, whatever our methods and weap- ons, our course is clear. We must keep on fighting. Whether we fight a year or ten years should make no difference to us....” By the spring of 1945, the war in Europe was moving to an end. In India, Linlithgow had been succeeded by Wavell as Viceroy. Continuance of the war in Asia would mean greater use and fuller utilization of bases in India and of Indian resources. In the prevailing political temper of the country, Wavell felt it was essential to break the impasse and make the; leadership and people of India to fight the Japanese. In May 1945 the war in Europe ended. On 14th June new proposals were announced to in- troduce further constitutional changes in India ‘within the framework of the 1935 Government of India Act’. A conference was held on 25th June. The proposals were conciliatory but also un- satisfactory 1) The Viceroy's executive council was to be wholly Indian, except for the Viceroy him- • self and the British Commander-in-Chief. 2) There would be ‘equal proportions of caste Hindus and Muslims’ in the council - This meant that the Muslim League's demand for parity on a communal basis had been en- dorsed for the first time in an official decla- ration of a British party. The negotiations however broke down be- cause Jinnah insisted that all the Muslim members of the executive council should be nominated by the League. The British were also not willing to sign any agreement with the Congress to which the Muslim League was not a party. The policy of ‘Divide and Rule' was at its peak. The Simla Conference

Jayaprakash Narayan, after his escape from Hazaribagh jail, had issued his famous, letter to ‘All Fighters of Freedom' in early 1943. The following excerpts are from his second letter which he issued in September 1943 from 'Somewhere in India "After a close contact with the progress of the Revolution for the past half year, I find no cause to change the views I had formed at the very beginning... In December last it appeared to me that it might be possible within a few months for another mass uprising to take place. That rising has not yet materialised, and it has to be admitted, does not appear to be immediately imminent... First of all it seems to me that it would be a mistake to deduce from this that the spirit of the people has been crushed or that there is no fight left in them. The people never hated British rule as they do to-day and were never more determined to be rid of it. A certain amount of demoralization undoubtedly exists today, but it is found largely , I do not say wholly, in the cities and among the higher- strata of the society. In the countryside, the areas where the repression had full sway, are far from having been cowed down...At the first suitable opportunity they will rise and tear up British rule to pieces.... In August last not only did the war situ- ation contribute to the creation of a suitable psychological atmosphere but also the fact that the Congress stood in all its power at the head of the people. The people had faith in their leaders and when the call went forth they responded with confidence and enthu- siasm. Today these leaders are in prison and they must present an appearance of helpless- ness to the people. Thus the second element in