Underground Activities during Quit India Movement

The launch of the Quit India Movement on August 8, 1942, transformed into a spontaneous mass uprising following the instant arrest of top nationalist leadership under Operation Zero Hour. With formal channels of resistance blocked and severe wartime press censorship in force, a dedicated network of second-tier leaders and young activists turned to underground activities to sustain the rebellion. These covert operations included secret radio broadcasts, guerrilla warfare training, sabotage of colonial infrastructure, and the distribution of clandestine literature. Operating across rural and urban landscapes, underground workers kept public morale high, coordinated provincial action, and disrupted British administrative machinery until 1944.

Central Directorate and Underground Leadership

Following the suppression of public demonstrations in late 1942, prominent socialist and young nationalist leaders established a covert centralized leadership in Bombay to guide nationwide resistance.

Key Organizers and Roles

• Jayaprakash Narayan: Escaped from Hazaribagh Central Jail in November 1942 and provided strategic leadership to rural guerrilla units.
• Aruna Asaf Ali: Hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan on August 9, 1942, and directed covert operations while evading continuous police warrants.
• Ram Manohar Lohia: Formulated political propaganda, delivered secret radio speeches, and maintained communication between scattered underground cells.
• Sucheta Kripalani: Managed relief funds, coordinated safe houses, and organized women volunteers for covert field operations.
• Achyut Patwardhan: Used frequent disguises and financial networks to keep the underground central office operational across provinces.
• Other Prominent Leaders: Biju Patnaik, S. M. Joshi, Ramanand Mishra, and Chhotubhai Puranik played key roles in managing logistics and transport networks.

Secret Congress Radio Operations

To bypass British press censorship enforced under the Defence of India Rules, activists established an independent, clandestine radio station in Bombay.

Setup and Transmission

• The Secret Congress Radio began broadcasting on August 27, 1942, on a frequency of 42.34 meters.
• Usha Mehta announced the opening statement: “This is the Congress Radio broadcasting on 42.34 metres from somewhere in India.”
• Businessmen Babubhai Khakhar and Vithalbhai Jhaveri provided financial and logistical support for operations.
• Nanka Motwane, owner of Chicago Radio, secretly supplied essential equipment, transmitters, and technical repairs.
• The team shifted transmitter locations between flats in Girgaum, Chowpatty, Parekh Wadi, and Laxmi Building to evade British direction-finding vans.

Programming and Raid

• Transmissions aired twice daily in English and Hindustani, playing patriotic tunes like Vande Mataram.
• Ram Manohar Lohia served as the regular commentator, broadcasting news on strike actions, police atrocities, and parallel governments.
• On November 12, 1942, police raided the Laxmi Building site during a live broadcast, arresting Usha Mehta and Babubhai Khakhar.
• Usha Mehta served four years of imprisonment at Yerwada Jail in Pune.

Guerrilla Warfare and Azad Dasta

In rural belts and border areas, underground activities took the form of armed resistance, sabotage, and guerrilla training.

Azad Dasta in Nepal

• Jayaprakash Narayan, along with Ramanand Mishra and Jogendra Shukla, founded the Azad Dasta in the Terai region of Nepal in early 1943.
• The organization established a training camp at Parasuram Hills to instruct youth in weapons handling, explosives, and guerrilla tactics.
• Sardar Nityanand Singh served as the chief instructor for military tactics and sabotage.
• Trainees organized raids to dismantle railway tracks, sever telegraph lines, and disarm local police outposts in Bihar and Eastern UP.
• British pressure on the Nepalese government led to the arrest of Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia in May 1943, though a daring raid by Azad Dasta fighters briefly freed them from Hanumannagar Jail.

Sabotage and Clandestine Propaganda

Underground networks relied on systematic sabotage of colonial assets and secret publications to maintain public participation.

Parallel Governments (Prati Sarkar)

In regions where underground workers completely ousted colonial officials, independent parallel governments managed local administration.

Ballia (Uttar Pradesh)

• Chittu Pandey led the first parallel government in August 1942, securing the release of political prisoners and taking over the district treasury.

Tamluk (Midnapore, Bengal)

• The Tamluk Jatiya Sarkar operated from December 1942 to September 1944.
• It created an armed wing called the Bidyut Bahini, set up judicial courts (Jatiya Adalat), and distributed cyclone relief.

Satara (Maharashtra)

• The Prati Sarkar, established in mid-1943 under Nana Patil (Krantisinh) and Y. B. Chavan, functioned until 1946.
• It ran people’s courts (Nyayadan Mandals), a volunteer force (Toofan Sena), and rural libraries.

High-Yield Facts for Quick Revision

• Operation Zero Hour was executed by colonial authorities on August 9, 1942, to arrest senior Congress leaders.
• The Central Underground Directorate operated primarily from Bombay to direct regional cells.
• The Secret Congress Radio broadcasted on a 42.34-meter shortwave frequency starting August 27, 1942.
• Nanka Motwane, owner of Chicago Radio in Bombay, secretly supplied transmission parts to Usha Mehta’s team.
• Jayaprakash Narayan escaped from Hazaribagh Central Jail on Diwali night in November 1942 to organize resistance.
• The Azad Dasta training camp operated in the Parasuram Hills within the Nepalese Terai.
• Sardar Nityanand Singh acted as the chief military trainer for the Azad Dasta guerrilla force.
• Krantikari was one of the widely circulated secret news sheets printed by underground workers.
• The Prati Sarkar in Satara, Maharashtra, lasted from 1943 to 1946, making it the longest-surviving parallel government of the movement.
• Usha Mehta received a four-year sentence at Yerwada Jail following her arrest on November 12, 1942.