HISTOBLOG

Assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi  was assassinated on 30 January 1948,  shot    at    point-blank range by Nathuram Godse. Since 1934, there had been five unsuccessful attempts to kill Gandhi. Gandhi was outside on the steps of a building where a prayer meeting was going to take place. He was with some of his families and followers when four gunshots killed him. Many of the people who were present remained long after the assassination, weeping and saying that they felt him leave their souls.

ASSASSINATION

After a previous failed attempt to assassinate Gandhi at the Birla House, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Aptereturned to Pune via Mumbai (Bombay). With the help of Dr. Dattatraya Parchure and Gangadhar Dandavate, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte purchased a Beretta and reached Delhi on 29 January 1948, checking into the retiring room No. 6 at Delhi Railway Station.

CONSPIRATORS

DAY OF ASSASSINATION

Godse killed Gandhi on January 30, 1948. He approached Gandhi on the way to a prayer meeting and bowed. A girl accompanying Gandhi said "Brother, Bapu is already late" and tried to put him off but he pushed her aside and shot three times at point-blank range with a .38 Beretta semi-automatic pistol.

GANDHI'S LAST WORDS

The First Information Report (FIR) filed by Shri Nand Lal Mehta shows that the last words of Gandhi were Raam - Raam. There has been no explanation of why he was not rushed to the hospital and was instead taken to Birla House, where he died later.

The last words uttered by Mahatma Gandhi are still a matter of debate. Venkita Kalyanam, former personal assistant to Gandhi, said that he was present at the spot and that Gandhi said "Oh God".

 TRIAL AND JUSTICE

All of those involved in the crime were arrested and tried in a trial that attracted plenty of media attention. Those convicted were either executed or served their complete sentences.

ARRESTS

Some of the arrests were high-profile such as the arrest of Savarkar.

TRIALS AND CONVICTIONS

Savarkar was acquitted and set free due to lack of evidence.

SENTENCING

Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death by hanging. Gopal Godse was sentenced to life in prison.

EXECUTION OF GODSE AND APTE

Differing accounts exist about the last moments of Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte. According to some accounts, Godse is said to have panicked before the hanging with Apte being calm. Other accounts state the reverse

AFTERMATH

Violent incidents took place in Pune city, the hometown of Nathuram Godse, the assassin. Violent incidents occurred in other parts of India as well.

VIOLENCE AGAINST BRAHMINS

The Maharashtrian Brahmin community was specifically targeted after it was known that majority of the assassins were Chitpavan Brahmins. Many innocent Brahmins had faced the problems during this assassination in the Maharashtra state.

BANNED ORGANIZATIONS

Political organizations—Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Mahasabha—with which the assassins were associated were banned by the government of India.Commenting on the role of these organisations

PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS

First attempt

On 25 June 1934, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was in Pune along with his wife, Kasturba Gandhi, to deliver a speech at Corporation Auditorium. They were traveling in a motorcade of two cars. The car in which the couple was travelling was delayed and the first car reached the auditorium. Just when the first car arrived at the auditorium, abomb was thrown, which exploded near the car. This caused grievous injury to the Chief Officer of the Pune Municipal Corporation, two policemen and seven others. Nevertheless, no account or records of the investigation nor arrests made can be found. Gandhi's secretary, Pyarelal Nayyar believes that the attempt failed due to lack of planning and co-ordination.

Second attempt

The second attempt on the life of Mahatma Gandhi may not have been an attempt to assassinate as much as a demonstration of anger by an angry young man who tried to bow down to Gandhi and was rejected. In May 1944, Gandhi was sent from Agha Khan Palace prison and soon after he contracted malaria. On the advice of doctors, he took a vacation to Panchgani, a hill station near Pune. During his stay at Panchgani, Gandhi was staying at Dilkush Bungalow. This group of 15-21 young men came to Panchgani after realizing that Gandhi was staying there. This young crowd, led by Nathuram Godse, came through a chartered bus. These youth held a day long protest demonstration, but declined to talk with Gandhi when invited. However, by evening, during the prayer meeting, Nathuram Godse rushed towards Gandhi with a dagger shouting anti-Gandhi slogans. He was unable to reach Gandhi as he was overpowered by Mani Shankar Purohit (proprietor of Surti Lodge, Pune) and D. Billare Guruji of Satara (who later became a Congress legislator from Mahabaleshwar).

The documentary evidence of this attack can be found in the depositions made by Mani Shankar Purohit and D. Billare Guruji before the Kapur Commission set up to investigate the assassination of Gandhi. However, the Kapur Commission rejected this theory as many of the close associates of Gandhi were not present during that time.

Third attempt

The third attempt was also a demonstration. However, people who testified before the Kapur Commission referred it as an attempt to murder. Mahatma Gandhi began his talks with Mohammad Ali Jinnah on 9 September 1944 which lasted for 14 days. While leaving for Mumbai from Sevagram Ashram, a group of Hindu activists stopped him. They did not want him to go to Mumbai to hold talks with Jinnah, however, these protesters were stopped by volunteers of the ashram.

The leader of this group, Nathuram Godse, was again found in possession of a dagger. The policeman who found the dagger then looked up to him and joked, "Why do you want to kill Gandhi? Let's leave it to the leaders themselves... perhaps (Veer) Savarkar will finish off the job!" At which Godse retorted, "Gandhi does not require such an honor. Even the jamadar (sweeper) is enough for that!"

Dr. Sushila Nayyar testified to this effect before the Kapur Commission and she considered this an attempt at assassination. This incident has also been portrayed in the filmGandhi by Sir Richard Attenborough. However, it is not portrayed as an attempt to murder but as a peaceful demonstration in which the demonstrators were waving black flags.

Fourth attempt

On 20 January 1948, Madanlal Pahwa, Shankar Kistaiya, Digambar Badge, Vishnu Karkare, Gopal Godse,Nathuram Godse, and Narayan Apte came to Birla Bhavan (aka Birla House) in Delhi to carry out another attack on Mahatma Gandhi and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Except for Madanlal Pahwa and Vishnu Karkare, everyone else reached the venue through the rear entrance in a cab. Madanlal Pahwa tried to bribe Choturam, the driver at Birla Bhavan, to let him go behind the podium to take pictures of Gandhi. However, Choturam became suspicious and asked Madanlal Pahwa why he needed photographs from behind, and inquired about the absence of a camera. Madanlal Pahwa instead left, making Choturam think he was going back to the taxi; however, he placed a cotton ball enclosing a bomb on the wall behind the podium and ignited it. The bomb went off without creating any panic. The team had left after abandoning Madanlal Pahwa.

On interrogation, Madanlal Pahwa admitted that he was part of a seven member gang who wanted to kill Gandhi. The plan was that Madanlal Pahwa would explode a bomb as close to the podium as possible while Digambar Bagde or Shankar Kishtaiyya would shoot Gandhi in the head during the ensuing panic and stampede, using the chaotic situation to cover their escape. (Vishnu Karkare was to compound the chaos by hurling hand grenades.) Faced with Choturam's suspicious attitude, Digambar Badge decided at the last minute not to act, and instructed Shankar Kishtaiyya (his servant) to do the same.

Later, Madanlal Phawa led the police to the Marina Hotel where Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte had been staying and also to Sharief Hotel where all other gang members had been staying. Everyone had left by that time and the police were only able to recover some letters and clothes which had the initials "NVG" on it. By this time they were able to ascertain that the members of that team were from Maharashtra; however they were not able to establish the identity and the involvement of Nathuram Godse.

During the Mahatma Gandhi murder trial, Madanlal Pahwa was identified by Mrs. Sulochana Devi, who had come to Birla Bhavan in search of her three year old son (who used to play in the servant quarters). She was the fifteenth witness in the trial, and Surjeet Singh, the driver, was the fourteenth witness.

LEGACY

Gopal godse

Gopal Godse served his complete life sentence of eighteen years and was then set free. He lived a full life into his nineties and published several books about the assassination. He, his family and several others remained proud of their role in the assassination. Gopal Godse's family received support from the close-knit Chitpavan community in Pune city.

KAPUR COMMISSION

On 12 November 1964, a religious programme was organized in Pune, to celebrate the release of the Gopal Godse, Madanlal Pahwa, Vishnu Karkare from jail after the expiry of their sentences. Dr. G. V. Ketkar, grandson of Bal Gangadhar Tilak,former editor of Kesari and then editor of Tarun Bharat, who presided over the function, revealed six months before the actual event, that Nathuram Godse disclosed his ideas to kill Gandhi and was opposed by Ketkar. Ketkar said that he passed the information to Balukaka Kanitkar who conveyed it to the then Chief Minister of Bombay State, B. G. Kher. The Indian Expressin its issue of 14 November 1964, commented adversely on Ketkar's conduct that Ketkar's fore-knowledge of the assassination of Gandhi added to the mystery of the circumstances preceding to the assassination. Ketkar was arrested. A public furore ensued both outside and inside the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and both houses of the Indian parliament. There was a suggestion that there had been a deliberate dereliction of duty on the part of people in high authority, who failed to act responsibly even though they had information that could have prevented Gandhi's shooting. Under pressure of 29 members of parliament and public opinion the then Union home minister Gulzarilal Nanda, appointed Gopal Swarup Pathak, M. P. and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India, in charge of inquiry of conspiracy to murder Gandhi. Since both Kanitkar and Kher were deceased, the central government intended on conducting a thorough inquiry with the help of old records in consultation with the government of Maharashtra, Pathak was given three months to conduct his inquiry. But as Pathak was appointed a central minister and then governor of Mysore state, the commission of inquiry was reconstituted and Jevanlal Kapur a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India was appointed to conduct the inquiry.

REAPPRAISAL OF SAVARKAR'S ROLE

Kapur commission also examined Savarkar's role in the assassination. Godse had claimed full responsibility for planning and carrying out the attack, in absence of an independent corroboration of the prosecution witness Digambar Badge's evidence implicating Savarkar directly, the court exonerated him citing insufficient evidence. According to Badge, on 17 January 1948, Nathuram Godse went to have a last darshan of Savarkar in Bombay before the assassination. While Badge and Shankar waited outside, Nathuram and Apte went in. On coming out Apte told Badge that Savarkar blessed them "Yashasvi houn ya" (be successful and return). Apte also said that Savarkar predicted that Gandhiji's 100 years were over and there was no doubt that that the task would be successfully finished. However Badge’s testimony was not accepted as it lacked lacked independent corroboration. This was later corroborated by the testimony of two of Savarkar's close aides - Appa Ramachandra Kasar, his bodyguard, and Gajanan Vishnu Damle, his secretary, who had not testified in the original trial but later testified before the Justice Kapur commission set up in 1965. Kasar told the Kapur Commission that they visited him on or about January 23 or 24, which was when they returned from Delhi after the bomb incident. Damle deposed that Godse and Apte saw Savarkar in the middle of January and sat with him (Savarkar) in his garden. Justice Kapur conlcuded: "All these facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group."

If I am to die by the bullet of a mad man, I must do so smiling. There must be no anger within me. God must be in my heart and on my lips.

– Mohandas K. Gandhi, 28 January 1948, two days prior to his assassination.

BOOKS AND PLAYS

Several books, plays and movies have been produced about the event.