Which one of the following observations is not true about the Quit India Movement of 1942?

Answer: (d) It did not attract the labour class in general

The untrue observation is (d). Industrial workers did join the Quit India Movement, through strikes that often hit war industries. Options (a), (b) and (c) fit how the movement was launched and how it spread.

• ✗ (a) On 8 August 1942 the All India Congress Committee endorsed a resolution calling for 'a non-violent mass struggle on the widest possible scale'. The movement was launched as a non-violent struggle, even though some violence occurred after the leaders were arrested. So this is not the false statement.
• ✗ (b) Mahatma Gandhi launched the movement and gave it the 'Do or Die' call, so describing it as Gandhi-led is true.
• ✗ (c) Gandhi and virtually the entire Congress leadership were arrested at once. Yet the popular movement continued, as younger activists organised strikes and acts of sabotage all over the country. That is why it is described as spontaneous.
• ✓ (d) Workers did participate. The movement's actions included strikes, 'many of which hit war industries'. So the claim that it did not attract the labour class is the untrue one.

Remember · Quit India (August 1942) began with Gandhi's 'Do or Die' call. The leaders were jailed at once, and the movement then carried on spontaneously. Workers joined through strikes, many hitting war industries, so 'it did not attract labour' is false.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 10 India and the Contemporary World – II, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part III, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2011, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). · Report an error