Provincial assemblies and controlling almost all departments of local administration. A bi-cameral federal legislature was formed in which the princely states were given disproportionate weight age.
Netaji left India in 1941 and reached Japan in 1943 to organise an armed struggle against the British with Japanese help. He formed the Azad Hind Fauj in Singapore to conduct a military campaign for India’s liberation. He gave the battle cry of Jai Hind. With Japan’s help, the I.N.A. marched on India from Burma, hoping to establish a Provisional Government of Free India, headed by Netaji. Although his attempt failed, Netaji became an example of patriotism for the people and the Indian Army.
The movement of 1942 is known as the ‘Quit India’ Movement. The Congress passed the Quit India resolution on August 8, 1942. But before it could start a movement, the British arrested Gandhiji and other leaders on August 9, 1942 and declared the Congress illegal. Left leaderless and without an organisation, the Indians reacted with hartals, strikes and general violence.
The British weakened the movement by resorting to severe repression. But its importances lay in demonstrating the depth of national feeling and the great capacity for sacrifice developed by the Indians.
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The British put three officers of the I.N.A. (General Shah Nawaz Khan, Gurdial Singh Dhillon and Prem Sehgal) on trial at the Red Fort, Delhi. They were charged with becoming traitors and breaking their oath of loyalty to the British Crown by leaving the British Indian Army for the I.N.A. Though the court martial declared them guilty, the British government was forced to set them free under pressure from popular demonstrations demanding their releases. These trails clearly indicated the end of British rule.
In his famous Tryst with Destiny speech he expressed the following:
I. To pledge dedication to the service of the Indian people and the world community.
II.To work hard towards ending poverty, ignorance, disease and inequality;
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III. To fulfill Gandhiji’s dream of ‘wiping every tear from every eye’.
The Pathans of North West Frontier Province (N.W.F.P.) joined the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930 under the leadership of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly called ‘Frontier Gandhi’. He organised the Khudai Khidmatars (Servants of God) Society of Pathans, also called the Red Shirts, who actively participated in hartals, demonstrations, boycott and non-payment of taxes.