Image: Mahatma Gandhi, 1942. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
World War II transformed the political environment in India. Gandhi opposed the continuation of British rule without Indian political consent while also maintaining his commitment to nonviolence.
The war begins
When Britain entered the war in 1939, India was automatically involved because it was under British rule. Congress leaders objected to the manner in which the decision had been taken.
The Cripps Mission
In 1942, Sir Stafford Cripps arrived in India with proposals concerning India’s constitutional future. The Gandhi Heritage Portal records that Gandhi advised the Cripps Mission to return to England on 27 March 1942.
From negotiations to Quit India
When negotiations did not produce an arrangement acceptable to Congress, the political situation moved toward confrontation. The Congress Working Committee adopted a resolution in July 1942 calling for the British to withdraw.
On 8 August 1942, the Quit India resolution was adopted. Gandhi gave the movement its famous “Do or Die” call.
Arrest and imprisonment
Gandhi and other Congress leaders were arrested on 9 August. Gandhi was imprisoned at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune.
The human cost of imprisonment
Mahadev Desai died at the Aga Khan Palace in August 1942. Kasturba Gandhi died there in February 1944. Gandhi was released unconditionally on 6 May 1944.
Why the wartime period matters
The years 1939–44 show how Gandhi’s political strategy operated during a global conflict. His campaigns combined opposition to colonial rule with an insistence that political action should remain grounded in nonviolence.
See the Gandhi Heritage Portal chronology and NewsNationOnline’s Quit India Movement explainer.
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