August 2002 marks the 60th anniversary of the Quit India movement, the final campaign by the Indians, led by the Congress party, against the British empire. The movement would end five years later in Independence and Partition. It was a time of glory and pain, of heady days when ordinary Indians were driven by a higher cause, to fight for the freedom of their motherland. The movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi, gave the country two famous slogans. The first was aimed at the British ruling India: 'Quit India' [Bharat chhodo]. The second was aimed at Indians, telling them how to achieve the first: 'Do or die' [Karenge ya marenge]. Both slogans have since gone down in the annals of Indian history as uniting the nation towards the goal of Independence. rediff celebrates the diamond jubilee of the Quit India movement with a special series: 'Do or die. I never understood what it meant' The time to quit India had come 'I know this place as Gowalia Tank and I don't need to know more' 'I do not know what kind of magic Gandhiji had but people listened to him' M V Kamath on August 1942 Timeline Specials