India has got its freedom from the British, who ruled our country for 190 years to be accurate. It was the effort several patriots who fought for the independence of the country. The fight for independence was not a easy one. From the First war of independence in 1857 to 15th of August, 1947, it was a tough fight between the freedom fighters of India (both violent and non-violent) and the British Raj.
Though people in India fought for freedom directly but there were other reasons for the British to grant freedom for us. The independence of India was not merely a cause of anyone of the events inside the country but it was an amalgamation of several factors that contributed for the declaration of the independence for our nation. On this 73rd Independence day I would like to bring into light all the factors that caused independence to India (Most of them are not taught to us though):
- Raising demand for independence: Firstly, the leaders of India negotiated for a dominion status of the country rather than complete independence (Nehru report, submitted by Motilal Nehru as the Simon commission was relucted and sent back). The British promised dominion status for India, if at all it supports them in World war I. However, the British never fulfilled their promise. Bhagat Singh, a well known Indian revolutionary gave the idea of Purna Swaraj. Influenced by this, Nehru celebrated Independence day on 26th of January, 1930 ( Republic day is observed on 26th of January for this reason) and people started following this.
- Quit India movement: The Quit India movement brought all the people of the country together.The protesters hoisted flags on Government buildings. The Government as an answer to this committed atrocities, murdering thousands of people.
- Civil disobedience movement: The Civil disobedience movement forced the British to form democratic bodies in its provinces. Congress formed government in 8 out of 11 provinces.
- Indian National Army: Formation of Indian National Army / Azad Hind Fauj by "Nethaji" Subhash Chandra Bose with the help of Nazis of Germany and the Japanese brought tension in the British officials in India. But when Japanese surrendered to the allied forces, the cause of formation of INA was lost.
- World war II: The world war II was a huge loss to Axis forces as well as to the Allied forces. The British who were the part of Allied forces suffered economic losses and were incapable of maintaining an army in the colonies where the movements for their independence were uprising. So, the British had to leave their colonies to reduce their expenses. Not only India, the British left Jordan in 1946, Palestine in 1947 and Sri Lanka in 1948. For the same reason the French also left Laos in 1949 and Cambodia in 1953.
- Failure of Cripps Mission: By 1942, the Japanese advanced to Burma / Myanmar. The British needed the support from India to defend its province. To negotiate this Sir Stafford Cripps was sent to India and promised a dominion status, if India supported. However, our leaders did not want to get cheated again and therefore refused to support. Thus, Cripps mission failed and lead to freedom struggle.
- The loss of Conservative party in General elections of Britain, 1945: In the general elections of Britain, the Labour party won in 1945, thus replacing the Conservative party. The Prime minister, Clement Atlee was liberal and wanted to negotiate with Indians on transferring power and independence peacefully. So, he sent a cabinet mission to India in 1946 to negotiate the grant of independence securing India's unity and peace. However, the demand for partition failed one of the motto of the committee.
Whatever may be the reason, the sacrifice of people of our country who stood for its freedom, integrity and unity should be remembered.
And finally, Happy 73rd Independence day India.- Gonwar Srinidhi rao.
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