'Quit India' anniversary: CM Fadnavis visits August Kranti maidan, calls for freedom from social ills

Mumbai: Tributes were paid on Tuesday to the martyrs of the freedom struggle, at an event held in Mumbai to mark the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the 1942 Quit India Movement. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu were among those present at the main event held at August Kranti Maidan. “This is the same ground from where Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of ‘Do or Die’ for independence,” Fadnavis said. [caption id=“attachment_2945078” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Reuters [/caption] In his three hour-long address at the Maidan in 1942, Gandhiji exhorted countrymen to prepare for the ‘final battle’ for India’s freedom, Fadnavis said. Various initiatives were organised in Mumbai to mark the Quit India movement which has been one of the major milestones in the history of India’s struggle for independence. The movement of disobedience launched in August 1942, with Mahatma Gandhi’s call for immediate independence, made at Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank, which is now well known as August Kranti Maidan. On the 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement, Maharashtra Government launched the Quit India 2-from Swaraj to Suraj initiative at the historic ground. The new initiative stresses on freedom from illiteracy, farmer suicide, wastage of water, addiction among youth and corruption. The government commemorated the leaders who fought for our freedom. Participants also took a pledge for holistic development of the nation.