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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
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
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....”
The Simla Conference
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.