Assassination Of Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948, at the age of 78, in the compound of Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) in central New Delhi. He was shot at close range by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a Hindu nationalist from Pune, Maharashtra, who had a history of association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and membership of the Hindu Mahasabha. The assassination occurred a little after 5 p.m., as Gandhi walked to his regular evening multifaith prayer meeting, and it marked one of the most traumatic moments in the early history of independent India.

Background

By 1947–48, India had recently achieved independence from British rule, accompanied by the Partition of India and the creation of the dominions of India and Pakistan. Partition led to mass displacement, communal rioting and large movements of refugees across the new borders. Gandhi, who had earlier been engaged in peace efforts in Noakhali in East Bengal, moved to Delhi in early September 1947 to help calm the violent rioting there and in East Punjab.
Nathuram Godse and his associates were residents of the Deccan Plateau region. Godse had taken part in a civil disobedience movement against Osman Ali Khan, the Nizam of Hyderabad, in 1938. He was arrested for political offences and imprisoned. After his release he continued political activity and worked as a journalist, writing about the sufferings of Hindu refugees and the communal violence of the 1940s. These experiences, together with his ideological convictions, contributed to his intense hostility towards Gandhi, whom he came to regard as appeasing Muslims and undermining Hindu interests.
In late 1947 and early 1948, tensions rose over the division of financial assets between India and Pakistan. The Government of India initially held back a payment due to Pakistan as part of the post-Partition financial settlement. Gandhi strongly opposed this withholding and began a fast unto death on 13 January 1948 to press for the release of the funds. The government reversed its decision, a step that Godse and his colleagues interpreted as evidence of Gandhi exerting decisive influence over state policy in a way they believed to be detrimental to India. It was on the day Gandhi commenced this fast that Godse and his associates are recorded as beginning to plan his assassination.

Earlier Attempts to Assassinate Gandhi

Nathuram Godse had attempted to attack Gandhi before 1948. In May 1944, at Panchgani, he led a group of about 15–20 young men who rushed towards Gandhi during a prayer meeting, armed with a knife. They were prevented from reaching him by the crowd. Gandhi, following his principle of non-retaliation and forgiveness, declined to press charges, and Godse was released.
In September 1944, Godse again attempted to confront Gandhi, this time during Gandhi’s passage from Sevagram to Mumbai. He was found carrying a dagger and is reported to have uttered threats to kill Gandhi. Once more, owing to Gandhi’s policy of refusing to file criminal complaints, he was released.
A more elaborate attempt took place on 20 January 1948, after Gandhi had moved from Balmiki Temple near Gole Market to Birla House. At Birla House, Gandhi conducted his prayer meetings on a raised lawn behind the mansion. According to later accounts, Godse and his associates followed Gandhi to a gathering where he was to address the public. One conspirator threw a grenade away from the main crowd, creating a loud explosion, panic and a stampede. The plan had been to throw a second grenade at Gandhi once he was left isolated on the platform. However, the accomplice designated to use the second grenade lost his nerve and fled with the crowd. All the plotters escaped except Madanlal Pahwa, a Punjabi refugee, who was arrested. Despite this warning sign, security around Gandhi remained relatively light, in line with his own wishes not to be shielded by heavy protection.

The Day of the Assassination: 30 January 1948

On 30 January 1948 Gandhi was staying in two modest rooms in the left wing of Birla House. The most intimate account of his last day comes from Manuben (Manu) Gandhi, his young great-niece, and Abha Chatterjee (Abhaben), who had been adopted by the Gandhi family and later married Kanu Gandhi, Gandhi’s nephew.
According to Manuben’s memoir Last Glimpses of Bapu, Gandhi began the day listening to a recitation from the Bhagavad Gita. He then worked on a proposed constitution for the Indian National Congress, which he intended to publish in Harijan. After his bath and massage at about 8 a.m., he weighed himself and remarked on his health, gently scolding Manuben for neglecting her own, given that she was only eighteen.
Later in the day, he lunched with Pyarelal and discussed the situation in Noakhali. After a short rest, Gandhi held a meeting with Vallabhbhai Patel. Two Kathiawar leaders wished to see him; when Manuben conveyed this request, Gandhi is reported to have replied, “Tell them that if I remain alive they can talk to me after the prayer on my walk.”
The meeting with Patel overran, and Gandhi became about ten minutes late for the scheduled prayer meeting. As usual, he walked towards the prayer ground supported by Manuben on his right and Abha on his left, using them in place of a walking stick.

The Shooting

When Gandhi reached the top of the steps leading to the raised lawn, a stout young man in khaki stepped out from the crowd lining his path. With hands folded, he appeared to be approaching to salute him. Manuben, anxious over Gandhi’s lateness, attempted to move the man aside, saying that Gandhi was already delayed and should not be detained. The man, Nathuram Godse, pushed her away so forcefully that she lost her balance and dropped the items she was carrying, including a rosary, a notebook and Gandhi’s spittoon.
As Manuben bent to pick them up, Godse drew a pistol — a Beretta M1934 purchased earlier with his associate Narayan Apte — and fired three shots at point-blank range into Gandhi’s chest and abdomen. Gandhi’s hands were in the posture of greeting, and he was heard to utter “Hey Ram” as he fell.
Manuben later recalled thick smoke, the deafening sound of the shots and the rapidity of events, estimating that the entire incident lasted only three to four minutes. The watch she carried showed 5.17 p.m. by the time Gandhi lay on the ground bleeding profusely. She later described the wounds as being clustered around the abdomen, several inches above and to the right of the navel.
Gandhi was carried back into his room in Birla House. There was no doctor on the scene immediately; efforts to telephone the hospital initially failed. Someone went in person to Willingdon Hospital but was unable to secure urgent medical assistance in time. As Gandhi lay in his room, Manuben and others recited verses from the Bhagavad Gita until a medical officer, Colonel Bhargava, arrived and pronounced him dead.

Arrest of Nathuram Godse

In the confusion following the shots, the assassin was seized by members of the crowd. Among those credited with overpowering him was Herbert Reiner Jr, a 32-year-old vice-consul newly posted to the American embassy in Delhi. With the crowd in shock, Godse was held and then handed over to the police. His capture at the scene ensured that the authorities were immediately able to link him directly to the shooting.

Trial, Sentencing and Execution

The Gandhi murder trial opened in May 1948 in the historic Red Fort in Delhi. Nathuram Godse was the principal accused. His close associate Narayan Apte and six others were tried as co-conspirators. The proceedings were relatively swift, and later commentators have sometimes attributed this haste to a desire within the government, particularly on the part of Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel, to minimise prolonged public scrutiny of security lapses and the broader conspiracy.
On 8 November 1949, Godse and Apte were sentenced to death. Several of Gandhi’s close followers opposed capital punishment in principle, and Manilal Gandhi and Ramdas Gandhi, two of Gandhi’s sons, appealed for the commutation of Godse’s death sentence. Their pleas were rejected by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel and Governor-General C. Rajagopalachari. Godse and Apte were hanged in Ambala jail on 15 November 1949.