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government sent a Mission under Sir Stafford Cripps in the year 1942 for
this purpose. But since the Cripps Mission did not concede to the Indian
demand of immediate transfer of power, it failed and went back. This
fuelled discontentment among the Indians and pressure increased to force
the British to accept the demand for independence. The Congress passed
the famous Quit India resolution in Bombay on August 8, 1942. A nonviolent mass struggle under the leadership of Gandhi began. The British
government came down heavily and immediately arrested most of the
nationalist leaders. The Movement spread to many parts of the country, in
the forms of Satyagraha, demonstrations and hartals. Over 10,000 people
were killed in police and military firing and lakhs were arrested. Finally,
the government succeeded in crushing the leaderless movement, as most
of the leaders were in jail.
The post-war movement witnessed a new type of struggle, triggered by
the trial of three INA officers viz. Shah Nawaz Khan, Gurdial Singh Dhillon
and Prem Sehgal. Despite the British governments resolve to punish
these officers for sedition, the whole country regarded them as national
heroes and was fully behind them. Even though the military court at the
Red Fort held them guilty, sensing the belligerent mood of Indian masses,
the British government decided to set them free. It was then evident that
the days of British Empire in India were numbered.