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Primary sourceSpeech8 August 1942

Quit India speech

Mahatma Gandhi · 8 August 1942

Gandhi's 'Do or Die' address on 8 August 1942 at Gowalia Tank, launching the final mass campaign demanding British withdrawal from India.

Gandhi delivered this speech himself, launching the Quit India Movement he led.

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Indian postage stamp marked INDIA 500 and 2017, titled 1942 FREEDOM MOVEMENT. It shows a black-and-white portrait of Mahatma Gandhi seated, bare-chested and wrapped in a cloth. Beside him is a quotation: 'The mantra is: Do or Die. We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery.' Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, August 8, 1942.
Mahatma Gandhi, Quit India speech, 8 August 1942, Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay. Commemorative postage stamp, 2017.

About this source

What it is

This speech was delivered by Mahatma Gandhi on the night of 8 August 1942 at Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay, just before the start of the Quit India Movement. It followed the All India Congress Committee's approval of the Quit India Resolution.

Why it matters

Gandhi called for determined but nonviolent resistance, declaring 'Do or Die' — that Indians would free their country or die trying. Within a day, Gandhi and nearly the entire Congress leadership were arrested, showing how seriously the British colonial government took the threat of this call to action during World War II.

Look closer

  • Why do you think the British arrested Gandhi so quickly after this speech?
  • What does the phrase 'Do or Die' suggest about the mood of the independence movement by 1942?
  • How does Gandhi combine a call to action with his commitment to nonviolence?

This speech is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Mahatma Gandhi on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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