Parallel Governments During Quit India Movement
The emergence of what became known as parallel governments in some parts of the country was a significant feature of the Quit India Movement.
1. The first was established in August 1942 in Ballia, East Uttar Pradesh, under the leadership of Chittu Pande, a self-described Gandhian. Though it succeeded in persuading the Collector to hand over power and release all the arrested Congress leaders, the parallel government could not last long, and when the soldiers arrived a week later, they discovered that the leaders had fled.'


2. The Jatiya Sarkar: It was established on December 17, 1942, in Tamluk, Bengal's Midnapur district, and lasted until September 1944. Tamluk was a place where Gandhi's constructive work had made significant progress, as well as the site of previous mass struggles. The Jatiya Sarkar helped with cyclone relief, school grants, and the formation of an armed Vidyut Vahini. It also established arbitration courts. It could continue its operations with relative ease because it was located in a relatively remote area.
3. The Prati Sarkar: Satara, Maharashtra, became the home of the world's longest-running and most effective parallel government. The region has been involved in the Quit India Movement since its inception.
• Thousands marched on local government headquarters in Karad, Tasgaon, and Islampur in the first phase, which began in August 1942. This was followed by sabotage, attacks on post offices, bank robberies, and telegraph wire cutting.
• The most important leader was Y.B. Chavan, who had connections with Achyut Patwardhan and other underground leaders. However, by the end of 1942, this phase had come to an end, with nearly 2,000 people arrested.
• The underground activists began to regroup at the beginning of 1943, and by the middle of the year, they had successfully consolidated the organisation. A parallel government, known as Prati Sarkar, was established, with Nana Patil as its most powerful leader.
• Attacks on government collaborators, informers, and talatis, or lower-level officials, as well as Robin Hood-style robberies, characterised this phase. Justice was administered through Nyayadan Mandals or people's courts.
• Prohibition was enacted, and ‘Gandhi marriages,' to which untouchables were invited but no ostentation was permitted, were held. Libraries were established in the villages, and education was promoted.
• The Prati Sarkar activists received invaluable support from Gandhiji's native state of Aundh, whose ruler was a pro-nationalist who had his state's constitution drafted by Gandhiji. The Prati Sarkar was in operation until 1945.
How was People's Participation in the Quit India Movement?
Participation of youth: In previous mass struggles, the youth were at the forefront of the struggle. The Quit India Movement marked a new high in terms of popular participation in the national movement and sympathy with the national cause.
• The most visible element, especially in the early days of August, was students from colleges and even schools (probably the average age of participants in the 1942 struggle was even lower than that in earlier movements). Women, particularly college and high school girls, played a critical role.
• Usha Mehta was an important member of the small group that ran the Congress Radio, and Aruna Asaf Ali and Sucheta Kripalani were two major women organisers of the underground. Workers were also prominent, and they made significant sacrifices by going through long strikes and enduring police repression on the streets.
Participation of peasants: Peasants of all classes, rich and poor, were at the heart of the movement, particularly in East U.P. and Bihar, Bengal's Midnapur, Maharashtra's Satara, and other states such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Kerala.
• Many small zamindars took part, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Even the big zamindars maintained a neutral stance and aided the British in putting down the rebellion. The Raja of Darbhanga, one of the largest zamindars, was the most spectacular, refusing to allow the government to use his armed retainers and even ordering his managers to assist the tenants who had been arrested.
• The pattern of peasant activity was notable for its total focus on attacking symbols of British authority and a complete lack of anti-zamindar violence, even when the breakdown of Government authority for long periods provided the opportunity, as it did in Bihar, East U.P. Satara, and Midnapur.
Participation of British officials: Government officials, particularly those at the lower levels of the police and administration, were extremely helpful to the movement. They provided shelter, information, and financial assistance. One of the most striking aspects of the Quit India struggle was the erosion of British officers' loyalty to the British government. In comparison to previous years, jail officials were much kinder to inmates, and they frequently expressed their sympathy openly.
Muslim participation: Muslim participation in the Quit India movement was low, even Muslim League supporters did not act as informers. There were also no communal clashes, indicating that while the movement did not elicit much support from the Muslim masses, it did not elicit their hostility either.
Communist participation: The fact that hundreds of Communists participated in the Quit India Movement at the local and village levels, despite the Communist Party's official position, demonstrates the movement's powerful appeal and elemental quality.
Despite sympathising with their leaders' strong anti-fascist sentiments, they felt the movement's irresistible pull and, for at least a few days or weeks, joined in with the rest of the Indian people.
The debate over the Quit India Movement-
1. Was the movement a spontaneous outburst or a planned insurgency?
2. How did the people's use of violence in this struggle fit with Congress's overall policy of nonviolent struggle?
• First, the element of spontaneity in 1942 was unquestionably greater than in previous movements, though the Congress leadership allowed considerable room for initiative and spontaneity even in 1919-22, 1930-31, and 1932. The Gandhian mass movements followed a pattern in which the leadership outlined a broad programme of action and then left implementation to the initiative of local and grassroots political activists and the general public.
• Even in the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930, perhaps the well-organized of Gandhi's mass movements; Gandhiji signalled the start of the struggle with the Dandi March and the breaking of the salt law. Local leaders and people decided whether to stop paying land revenue and rent, offer Satyagrahi against forest laws, picket liquor shops, or feign death.
• Of course, since the leadership had yet to formally launch the movement in 1942; even the broad programme had not yet been spelled out clearly. However, the leadership had sanctioned the degree of spontaneity and popular initiative that was exercised.
• On August 8, 1942, the AICC passed a resolution that stated, "A time may come when it will be impossible to issue instructions or for instructions to reach our people, and when no Congress committees will be able to function." When this occurs, each man and woman involved in the movement must function independently within the four corners of the general instructions given. Every Indian who aspires to independence must be his guide.”
• Aside from that, the Congress had spent a long time ideologically, politically, and organizationally preparing for the fight. From 1937 onwards, the organisation was restructured to repair the damage caused by the repression of 1932-34.
• The Ministries had significantly increased Congress's political and ideological support and prestige. The areas of the most intense activity in 1942 in East U.P. and Bihar were precisely the ones where significant mobilisation and organisational work had been carried out from 1937 onwards.
• Sardar Patel had been touring Bardoli and other areas in Gujarat since June 1942, warning the people of an impending struggle and suggesting that no-revenue campaigns might be involved.
• Since June 1942, Congress Socialists in Poona have been holding volunteer training camps.
• Gandhiji had prepared the people for the coming battle, which he predicted would be "short and swift," through his Individual Civil Disobedience campaign in 1940-41 and more directly since early 1942.
• In any case, in a primarily hegemonic struggle like the Indian national movement, preparedness for struggle is measured by the degree of hegemonic influence the movement has over the people, not by the volume of immediate organisational activity.