{"id":18849,"date":"2023-07-28T12:32:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T12:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=18849"},"modified":"2023-07-28T12:42:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T12:42:13","slug":"gandhis-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/gandhis-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"How Gandhi\u2019s \u201cQuit India\u201d Speech Helped Free a Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>TLDR:<\/b><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Mahatma Gandhi spent decades working toward Indian independence from Great Britain before giving a speech that came to be known as the \u201cQuit India\u201d speech to the Indian parliament in 1942.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Gandhi used effective techniques like a focus on his divine calling and a request for people to put themselves in his shoes to get his audience on his side.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>So What? <\/b>It was only a few short years between Gandhi\u2019s speech, which led the arrest and imprisonment of India\u2019s political leaders, and India\u2019s independence; the \u201cQuit India\u201d speech was an important catalyst for dissent that led to freedom for India.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe title=\"Mahatma Gandhi Quit India Speech\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MOV6s_4LJCU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given on Aug. 8, 1942, the &#8220;Quit India&#8221; speech\u2013delivered by Mahatma Gandhi\u2013pushed the cause for Indian independence from British colonial rule. The speech called for determined but passive resistance, or civil disobedience, based on the principles of satyagraha (&#8220;truthful request&#8221;).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gandhi&#8217;s central message was that the British should leave India. Within 24 hours, Gandhi and almost the entire Indian National Congress leadership <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/speech-brought-india-brink-independence-180964366\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were imprisoned<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by the British colonial government under the grounds of the Defense of India Act.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While India did not achieve full independence until a few months before Gandhi&#8217;s death in 1947, this speech had much to do with more people siding with him, joining his cause, and raising him to &#8220;national hero&#8221; status.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The speech has stood the test of time because it appealed to people&#8217;s humanity and to a better way of both governing and bringing about change\u2013that of nonviolent resistance\u2013that was emulated by other subjugated nations and peoples, including during the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960s.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Listen and Understand<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One aspect of Gandhi&#8217;s speech that gave it such power at the time is the way it asked people to listen and to put themselves in the shoes of Gandhi and his fellow Indian people. At the time of the speech, Gandhi had been working for Indian independence for over 20 years, so his position was familiar to most people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The difference this speech made in the conversation was that Gandhi asked people to do their best to understand where he was coming from and why he and his peers wanted India to be free from British rule.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I want you to understand two things very clearly and to consider them from the same point of view from which I am placing them before you,&#8221; he said at the beginning of the speech.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He added, &#8220;I ask you to consider it from my point of view because if you approve of it, you will be enjoined to carry out all I say.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It turns out that when the British people did consider the Indian point of view and looked at Indians as people just like them, they found they supported the idea of independence. Once that happened, it was only a matter of time before India was able to achieve independence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-18852 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2.jpeg-5-min.jpg\" alt=\"ghandi statue\" width=\"600\" height=\"721\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2.jpeg-5-min.jpg 1704w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2.jpeg-5-min-250x300.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2.jpeg-5-min-852x1024.jpg 852w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2.jpeg-5-min-768x923.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2.jpeg-5-min-1278x1536.jpg 1278w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Separate People from Problems<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most political speeches of the time focused on the mechanisms of government and on the practicalities of running governments. Gandhi\u2019s speech was different in that he separated the British people from British imperialism, which helped to remove the political and social sense of division that had existed until that time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He said, \u201cOur quarrel is not with the British people, we fight their imperialism. The proposal to withdraw British power did not come out of anger. It came to enable India to play its due part at the present critical juncture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He didn\u2019t make the British people the problem. Instead, he clearly labeled the institution of British Imperialism as the problem. In this way, the British people did not feel threatened or attacked by India; instead, they began to feel solidarity with them. He said, \u201cSpeaking for myself, I can say that I have never felt any hatred. I feel myself to be a greater friend of the British now than ever before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gandhi knew that hating people would not be conducive to a peaceful independence for India. Still, when he reached out to them in peace, many responded (over a few years) and helped to bring about the independence India wanted and needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Answering a Divine Calling<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gandhi made it clear throughout the \u201cQuit India\u201d speech that he was answering what he saw as a divine calling, both in working toward India\u2019s political independence and in how he chose to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He spoke repeatedly of \u201cAhimsa,\u201d which is the Hindu principle of showing compassion to others and not doing anything to harm them. It is from Ahimsa that Gandhi got his firm belief in nonviolence. This spiritual principle embodies the entire speech and everything Gandhi set out to do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI want you to know and feel that there is nothing but purest Ahimsa in all that I am saying and doing today,\u201d he said. \u201cThe draft resolution of the Working Committee is based on Ahimsa, the contemplated struggle similarly has its roots in Ahimsa. Therefore, if any among you has lost faith in Ahimsa or is wearied of it, let him not vote for this resolution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He said that he looked at Ahimsa as a gift from God and felt a responsibility to remain faithful to it. And for Gandhi\u2019s part, he did remain nonviolent and encouraged others to do so, even as he put forward a sort of ultimatum that he and his allies would either make India free or die trying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, not everyone who took action to gain India\u2019s independence followed his rules of nonviolence. Gandhi admitted as much when he said that his people\u2019s Ahimsa was \u201cimperfect,\u201d but it was still the spiritual ideal that the movement strove to achieve.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u201cQuit India\u201d speech was a crucial catalyst for India\u2019s eventual independence, primarily because of Gandhi\u2019s request that people listen and understand his viewpoints, his ability to separate people from their behaviors, and the sense that he was answering a divine calling in leading India to its independence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you need help with your communications, Media Shower has the experience and expertise to make your messages memorable. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/mediashower.com\/user\/free_trial?__mscta=2850_97286_162\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can try our award-winning platform for free.<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mediashower.com\/user\/free_trial?__mscta=2850_97286_162\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-17809 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MediaShower-CTA-1-1.png\" alt=\"Free trial CTA\" width=\"680\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MediaShower-CTA-1-1.png 680w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MediaShower-CTA-1-1-300x106.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Click to learn how Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s \u201cQuit India\u201d speech became a catalyst for the Indian independence movement and why it was so powerful in its time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":18850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[459],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18849"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18849"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18854,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18849\/revisions\/18854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}