‘Do Or Die’ Movement Like One In 1942 Needed: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said another ‘do or die’ movement like the one launched in 1942 is needed against the present “dictatorial government”, and asserted that dictatorship, inflation and unemployment will have to quit India.

In a Facebook post in Hindi on the anniversary of the launch of the Quit India Movement, Gandhi said the movement, which started from then Bombay on August 9, 1942, had given sleepless nights to the British.

“On that August evening, people started gathering at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay and Gandhi ji gave the slogan ‘Do or Die’ with which the last chapter of British rule in India began,” the former Congress chief said.

Without caring about their lives, lakhs of people of the country became a part of this movement in which about 940 people were martyred and thousands arrested, he said.

“Today, on the anniversary of the Quit India Movement launch, I pay tribute to the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country,” Gandhi said.

“Today, another ‘do or die’ movement is needed against the dictatorial government and to protect the country. Now the time has come when it is imperative to speak up against injustice. Dictatorship, inflation and unemployment must quit India,” the Congress leader asserted.

His remarks come days after Gandhi alleged that India is witnessing the “death of democracy” and anybody who raises people’s issues and stands against the onset of dictatorship is “viciously attacked” and put in jail.

Meanwhile, tributes were paid to martyrs on Tuesday at the August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai to mark the 80th anniversary of the Quit India Movement.

This is the ground from where Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of ‘do-or-die’ for independence. People visited the August Kranti Maidan in the morning and offered floral tributes at the Gandhi Smruti Stambh.

Freedom fighters and others who laid down their lives in the freedom struggle were remembered with deep gratitude. The movement is a major milestone in the history of India’s struggle for independence from British rule.

The movement in August 1942, with Mahatma Gandhi’s call for immediate independence, was launched at Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank, which later came to be known as August Kranti Maidan due to its association with the historic occasion.