India's Freedom Struggle record some of the glorious episodes in the annals of the country's recent past. The story of this struggle has been told and retold through various media. A large number of postage stamps have been issued to honour the personalities and to commemorate the events connected with the Freedom Struggle. These stamps, however, do not narrate the complete story of the long drawn out struggle for Independence.

An attempt is, therefore, being made, now to fill in the gaps through the issue of a series to depict the major landmarks in India's Struggle for Freedom. The present set of three stamps, on the themes of 'Quit India Revolution', 'Mahadev Desai' and 'Meera Behn' is the first issue in the proposed series. This set, thus, marks the beginning of an ambitious project under which about 4-6 stamps will be will be issued, every year, till 1997- the 50th year of India's Independence, to complete the story of the struggle through stamps.

QUIT INDIA RESOLUTION On august 8, 1942, the All-India Congress Committee adopted a resolution sanctioning "the starting of mass struggle on non-violent lines on the widest possible scale under the leadership of Gandhi". The committee demanded the complete withdrawl of the British power from India so that the war could, indeed, become a people's war in which millions of free Indians could participate with zeal and enthusiasm. The "Quit India" resolution was in effect a call for an open revolt against foreign rule. Gandhiji urged everybody to act as if they were free and said, "I am not going to be satisfied with anything short of complete freedom....... we shall do or die, We shall either free India or die in the attempt". The British government of India could not afford to ignore this open challenge to its authority.

On August 9, at early dawn, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabh Bhai Patel, Abdul Kalam Azad and other members of the Congress Working Committee were arrested. Within a week, almost every important functionary of the Congress in every part of India was put behind the bars. The number of persons arrested totalled more than 60,000, according to official information. The real figures were probably much higher. According to non-official estimates, the number of those killed alone had reached about 10,000.

The resolution started a historical phase in India's struggle for Freedom and is an important milestone in the journey towards independence.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India