Quit India Movement, a damp squib in Madras

In 1942, the Congress met in Bombay. The nation was strife with rumours that a mega event of the freedom movement was in the offing and nervousness on part of the colonial establishment was perceptible. Even the Arch Bishop of Canterbury in his weekly prayer asked people to keep India in their prayers. Gandhi maintained a façade of peace while holding out an unspoken threat to the rulers. “If this is our non-violence, imagine what our rage would be?” To the Indians, Gandhi just said, “Do or die.” War had indeed been declared!

The fear of the lathi should have made most Indian spines softer than jelly but the fury of the natives shocked the British. Surely, this wasn’t the nation of invertebrates they had captured. 

While the British struggled to handle the fracas elsewhere, they weren’t too concerned with Madras. After all, they’d known it for 300 years. Exactly as they thought, four local forces opposed the movement in Madras – Justice party, the communists, Muslim league and surprisingly a faction of the Congress itself. Yes, Quit India had the most unexpected of critics. Rajaji asked citizens not to participate in the hooliganism. Communists Mohan and Parvathi Kumaramangalam went from one college to the other to dissuade students from participating. Raja Annamalai Chettiar asked the police to put down the lawlessness with a stern hand. 

The British too shored up their resources. CP Ramaswami, the Diwan of Travancore was persuaded to move to Madras as member of information in the Viceroy’s council. Police were posted in many stations to nab Kamaraj, Bakthavatsalam and Satyamurthi on their way back from the meeting in Bombay. Kamaraj (dressed like a Muslim) alighted at Arakkonam and escaped. Others were arrested. 

A communiqué was issued. “Whereas the government of Madras is of the opinion that the association known as TNCC has for its object, interference in the maintenance of law and order… His Excellency the Governor of Madras is hereby pleased to declare it unlawful.” Simultaneously, under the Defence of India Act, holding public assemblies was banned.

Gandhi’s arrest set the nation aflame. Even elsewhere in the Presidency, courts were burnt in Devakottai and railway stations in Tenali. Madurai and Bhimavaram were set aflame. But Madras city was largely peaceful. The city walls were scribbled with charcoal. ‘Gandhiji has been arrested. Why?’ were the words. After the slogan writing, the city went back to its silence.

However, the students of the city colleges and schools clad in Khadi and wearing Gandhi caps rose in indignation and were in the vanguard of protest. Girls added colour, and in many places like Pachaiyappa’s, they were in the forefront. The docile girls of Queen Mary’s without blush of embarrassment crowded the streets shouting ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and a few even got arrested. 

When newspapers reported a two-day hunger strike in Women’s Christian College, its Principal Eleanor Rivet made it clear it was only a fast and not a hunger strike, as if there was some difference. Presidency students blocked roads with parked bicycles locked with each other. Undergraduates from Pachaiyappa’s assembled near the Chetpet railway gate, threw stones, and when lathi charged, were taken to GH. 

The students resorted to a novel protest. They started pulling the alarm chains in trains and when the already jittery drivers hit the brakes, they jumped off and ran for cover. This put the entire railway system in disarray. The railways responded by disconnecting the alarm systems. Pelting of stones on the trains from inside the walls of Pachaiyappa’s College continued, requiring passengers to pull down their metal shutters. 

Gandhi had already reminded the newspapers of their duties. “The press should discharge its duties fearlessly. Let it not be cowed down by the government.” 

Rajaji’s comments, however, made fodder for the administration. CP Ramaswami justified the press restrictions by quoting Rajaji’s statement of hooliganism. Five newspapers suspended publication on August 19 and kept away for 3 months. 

India was ablaze in the Quit India days and Gandhi had effectively conveyed to the British that their Indian days were numbered. But compared to the rest of the nation, Madras did lag behind. Without doubt, the Quit India agitation was a shameful session in its history.