Gowalia Tank Maidan,
is a park in central Mumbai of
historical fame – you may not instantly recognize it – it is now called ‘August
Kranti maidan’ where Mahatma Gandhi issued the Quit India speech on 8 August 1942
decreeing that the British must leave India immediately or else mass agitations
would take place. The call mobilised the citizens to a huge Civil Disobedience
movement as the British refused to grant independence till the War was over.It is nearer Grant Road railway station in
Western Railway.Introduced in 1992, the
12953/12954 August Kranti Rajdhani Express is a
daily service. It operates as train number 12953 from Mumbai Central to Hazrat
Nizamuddin and as train number 12954 in the reverse direction.
It is stated that ‘Gowalia
Tank’ was used to bathe cows. Go - Walia comes from the
marathi word Gaie (cow) Wala (owner of the cattle). The cattle owners would
bring the cows to be bathed in the waters of the tank. This maidan too hosts cricket games split into
smaller grounds !
All of us have read
History in our school days. Do you remember Stafford Cripps and the Committee
of All India Congress’s submission to the Cripps committee : In a monumental submission, Committee
conveyed their opinion that Britain is incapable of defending India. It further
added that “Japan's quarrel is not with India. She is warring against the
British Empire. India's participation in the war has not been with the consent
of the representatives of the Indian people. It was purely a British act. If
India were freed, her first step would probably be to negotiate with Japan.”.
The Committee appealed to Britain, for the sake of her own safety, for India’s
safety and for the cause of world pelace to let go her hold on India, even if
she does not give up all her Asiatic and African possessions. India will attain
her freedom through her non-violent strength, and will retain it likewise. It
is not difficult to understand the simple principle of nonviolent
non-cooperation:
First,
we may not bend the knee to an aggressor, or obey any of his orders. Second, we
may not look to him for any favors nor fall to his bribes, but we may not bear
him any malice nor wish him ill. Third, if he wishes to take possession of our
fields we will refuse to give them up, even if we have to die in an effort to
resist him. Fourth, if he is attacked by disease, or is dying of thirst and
seeks our aid, we may not refuse it. Fifth, in such places where British and
Japanese forces are fighting, our non-cooperation will be fruitless and unnecessary.
The
committee is of the opinion that it is harmful to India's interests, and
dangerous to the cause of India's freedom, to introduce foreign soldiers in
India. It therefore appeals to the British Government to remove these foreign
legions, and henceforth stop further introduction. It is a crying shame to
bring foreign troops in, in spite of India's inexhaustible man power, and it is
proof of the immorality that British imperialism is. {Excerpts and not full text}
The All India
Congress Committee passed the above resolution, known as “Quit India ”
resolution on 8th August 1942
~ and on 9th Aug 1942 (75 years ago) – Gandhi was arrested in the
morning and was taken to Agakhan Palace, Poona. The AICC was declared illegal. For
those who have not read much : The Quit India Movement (Bharat Chhodo Andolan
or the August Movement (August Kranti)) was a civil disobedience movement
launched in August 1942 when Gandhi gave the call for immediate independence.
It was a call for
the negotiating table which only came hours after the entire Indian National
Congress leadership were confined. During the 1942, the British Governor
General in India Lord Linlithgow unilaterally without consulting Indian leaders
brought India into the war. Though some wanted to support the British hoping
for eventual independence, most were in disagreement. Those
days, perhaps only Netaji Subash Chandra Bose was decisive and he organised INA
against the British.
In 1942 British
Govt sent a delegation to India under Stafford Cripps with the purpose of
striking a deal with the INC and obtain total cooperation during the war for
which the progressive devolution and distribution of power would be quid pro
quo. The time frame was not definite and talks naturally failed. On 14th
July 1942, INC demanded complete independence, it warned of launching massive
civil disobedience movement.
The resolution was
passed at the Bombay session of AICC ; this monumental place lies closer to
Grant road railway station – the Gowalia Tank Maidan
(August Kranti Maidan later) a park in Central Mumbai was the venue
where Gandhi told Indians to follow non-violent civil disobedience. He
instructed the masses to act as an independent Nation. The next day (Aug 9) he
was imprisoned and taken to Pune. Ballia, a District of UP (of Mangal Pandey of
First Indian war of Independence 1857 fame) overthrew the district
administration. British response was brutal – over lakh of people were
arrested, resisters and innocents were killed.
All this hastened
the Independence. After 75 years, only the name of the party remains, the
spirit is totally forgotten. We still
continue to read history of Michael Dyer, Ash and many others while great
heroes like Subash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Veera Vanchi Nathan, VO
Chidambaranar, Va Ve Su, Udham Singh do not embellish our lessons.
Now to conclude on
a lighter vein, Bombay Gymkhana was the ground where India first played a Test
match at home. Cricket was played in
India in 1877, by the 1920s, the Bombay Quadrangular tournament was attracting
players from all over India, making it the biggest and most influential cricket
tournament in the country. Bombay Gymkhana, formed centuries ago exclusively
for Europeans, where Ranji was denied admission, with its white colonial architecture, was the venue. The only Indians allowed into the club were
servants, although this rule had to be suspended for the 1932-33 Test to allow
the players to use the facilities.
Long live the Nation
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
8th Aug 2017
