Quit India Movement in Bihar

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Introduction

The Indian national movement has carved a niche in the history of national liberation movements of various countries all the world over. It is unique in many ways specially for the turns given to its course by successive generation of leaders professing different creeds and the people's change of mood and assiduous adherence to their call to fight for the freedom of the motherland. Interestingly enough, the birth of the Indian National Congress, the vanguard of the momentous freedom movement in the country was the outcome of the efforts of an Englishman A. O. Hume. It is really significant how an organization primarily meant to have a friendly parley with the government to concede some concessions to the privileged few, for the most part, transformed itself into one and a composite symbol of the hopes and aspirations of the seething multitudes of the country, from affectionate interaction to (of W. C. Banerjee and others) tumultuous exhortations, in words dipped in fire (of B.G. Tilak) accompained by sporadic acts of violence (by the over-zealous patriots like Azad and Bhagat Singh) actually rocking the country and later condescending to entreaties and promises of co-operation (of the moderates headed by C.R. Das) from pusillanimous dialogue to one puissant demand for nothing short of total independence (by Nehru) and finally from the creed and cult of non-violence (of Gandhi) to one spontaneous and seemingly unrestrained violent mass upsurge although not giving up its faith in the efficacy and meaningfulness of the creed in its entiretly. It is unique also because of the use of an altogether new weapon to fight the mightiest imperialist power on earth, which has been widely acclaimed as the most powerful weapon to wage a struggle and is at present the most popular weapon in the hands of different agitationists, particularly in the national liberation movements, and this weapon is of being "weaponless" better known as Satyagraha and non-violence. Indeed, the struggle for independence in India trekked its course like a narrow and shallow rivulet flowing pleasingly on the hill planes with "melodious birds singing madrigals" all around to a mighty torrent gushing forth through stones and rocks to come down to the planes to flow with natural ease on a fairly large bed, nursing the people near the main-stream and to assume, at times, gigantic and dreadful shapes and forms inundating large areas when flooded by their intense emotional and patriotic zeal lit to vehemence by the important leaders to steer safely, even dangerously, to one ultimate goal of national independence- the coming of Tilak, Gokhle, Ras Bihari Ghosh, Tagore, C.S. Azad, Gandhi, C.R. Das, Rajendra Prasad, Jawahar Lal Nehru, S. B. Patel, and Subhash Chandra Bose, in a broader sense, marks the different stages of the struggle resplendent with the singular glory of their faith, dash and vigour.

The province of Bihar, with a glorious past and rich heritage, figured prominently among the sensitive spots of India for intense patriotic flare-ups. The seemingly calm and peace-loving inhabitants of the province could have a revolutionary zeal like a dormant fire in an unextinguished hearth to set hundreds and thousands of hearts ablaze with patriotic fervour if properly fanned and favoured by strong gales spreading it to every nook and corner of even far off places, belied all calculations of the Britishers. The exemplary adaptability of this land of Buddha, Mahavir, and Ashoka is manifest in its embracing of the creed of Gandhi as also of Batukeshwar Dutta, the Siyaram Dal and Parsuram Dal. The early history of the province's participation before its split from Bengal, remains rather lop-sided because of the absence of its separate identity. This, however, does not dim the glory of the land in any way. After the death of Tilak and the failure of Home Rule League of Annie Besant, the first lady president of All India Congress Committee, there seemed to prevail a hushed calm in the political arena as England, the ruler, had emerged as an indisputable power at the top and India also as the mightiest stronghold of imperialism in the world. It was somehow different from the situation following the years of the First War of Independence of 1857 when India lay prostrate at the feet of the Master as the rebellion was ruthlessly crushed with unimaginable severity. The people were cringing to the dust completely deprived of all strength and vitality to run their life, let alone smoothly. True, the countrymen could not exploit the international situation to their advantage and they were not prepared for it either. It had, however, made the marks of cleavage in the imperial empire manifest as never before. The Giant lay weak and spentup but the dread generated in the past was too strong to let the people strike it. People all over the country were in a state of perplexing quietude, unconsciously waiting for the arrival of a "Prophet", as it were, to help them kill the demon and deliver them the promised paradise of liberty to breathe the air freely. The advent of Gandhi on the political scene of the country kindled the hope of fulfilment of these aspiration in the hearts of many for they saw Gandhi as the incarnation of Lord Krishna. This was enhanced to a great extent by a peculiar weapon of Satyagraha and Ahimsa preached and propagated by him. This was unpalatable to the people at large as they failed to comprehend the rationale of a battle between an unarmed band of illiterates on one hand and a highly skilled band of soldiers equipped with the most sophisticated arms in the world on the other. Peculiarly enough, the preacher stuck to his convictions ignoring all the argument of his compatriots but this 'Prophet' had no place to set his foot firmly on for experimenting and lending a practical shape to his theory to infuse confidence in the hearts of his countrymen as to its efficacy as well as its propriety. It was Bihar which offered Gandhi this opportunity to experiment and develop his unbelievably unique weapon.

Champaran was groaning under the tyranny of the White indigo growers. The situation was explosive beyond imagination but there was none to light fire to it. Gandhi surveyed the situation and found a land quite fertile for a luxuriant flowering of his creed. He stayed there and experimented it for the first time. Gandhi, a mere theorist till then, with a story of his successful venture in South Africa to give a proof thereof and who had succeeded to no recognizable degree in India, emerged as a 'hero' if not a national hero. This agrarian movement of Champaran marked the beginning of Gandhi's political activity in India and henceforth his name used to be taken with reverence by the countrymen and with an amount of awe and apprehension by the Britishers. This movement also gave him an illustrious disciple like Rajendra Prasad among others.

Gandhi's hectic tour of the cities and villages of Bihar made the inhabitants politically conscious of their legitimate rights as also their duties towards the motherland. This was precisely for this that Bihar always took the lead in all the movements in the country and even women, in a backward state like this, did not lag behind in any of the works entrusted to or expected of them. Gandhi also looked up to Bihar with assured confidence and promise of cooperation in all possible ways.