The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee will honour freedom fighters on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Quit India Movement tomorrow (August 9, 2012). Freedom fighters from across the country will be invited to attend a reception (At Home) at the Rashtrapati Bhavan where they would be honoured and felicitated in the presence of the Vice-President, the Prime Minister and former Presidents, Speakers of the Lok Sabha and other dignitaries.

Freedom fighters from following States/Union Territories all across the country will be invited for the reception i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Daman & Diu and NCT of Delhi .

Since 2003, the President of India has been hosting an 'At Home' function in the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the anniversary of the Quit India Movement on the 9th August of every year to honour freedom fighters.

Quit India Movement was launched on 9th August 1942. On 8th August 1942, the All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C) formally adopted in Bombay a resolution calling on the British to 'Quit India'. The next day national leaders including Gandhiji were arrested by the British. From that very day i.e 9th August, a spontaneous civil disobedience movement in response to Gandhi's call for immediate independence spread all over the country.

This release issued at 1830 hrs