New Delhi: On the 83rd anniversary of the Quit India movement, the Congress on Saturday paid tribute to the freedom fighters who laid down their lives for India’s independence, while alleging that the RSS had opposed the 1942 movement.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge recalled that under Mahatma Gandhi’s call of “Do or Die”, countless Indians took to the streets, scripting a defining chapter in the freedom struggle. “On August Kranti Diwas, we honour the courage and sacrifice of all who fought for the nation’s liberty,” he said in a post on X.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh noted that on the night of August 8, 1942, the All India Congress Committee passed the Quit India resolution, followed by Gandhi’s historic speech. By the early hours of August 9, top Congress leaders, including Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad, and Pant, were arrested. Gandhi was held at Aga Khan Palace until May 1944, while others were imprisoned in Ahmednagar Fort until March 1945.
Ramesh added that Nehru endured his ninth imprisonment during this period and wrote The Discovery of India in jail. He alleged that while the Congress leadership was behind bars and the nation was mobilised, the RSS “actively opposed” the Quit India movement — and later opposed the Constitution of India.
