Spread of the Movement

Gandhi had carefully built the tempo through individual civil disobedience movements or satyagraha, organisational revamping and a consistent propaganda campaign. The government, however, was in no mood to either negotiate with the Congress or wait for the movement to be formally launched.

In the early hours of August 9, 1942, in a single sweep, all the top leaders of the Congress were arrested and taken to unknown destinations. The Congress Working Committee, the All India Congress Committee and the Provincial Congress Committees were declared unlawful associations under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908. The assembly of public meetings was prohibited under rule 56 of the Defence of India Rules. The removal of established leaders left the younger and militant elements to their own initiative. With the major leaders out of the picture, young Aruna Asaf Ali, till then relatively unknown, presided over the Congress committee session on August 9, and hoisted the flag.