Mahatma Gandhi was shot by right-wing ideologist Ramachandra Vinayak Godse, popularly known as Nathuram Godse, at 5.12 pm IST on January 30, 1948, at Delhi’s Birla House. He died 15 minutes later.
It came just six months after India got its freedom and was still bearing the brunt of the India-Pakistan partition.
However, much is still written about his assassination, which still draws the eyes of scholars and writers and generates polemic.
After firing the bullets at Gandhi, Godse didn’t even try to flee but gave himself up to police, accepted his crime and was sentenced to death.
Mahatma Gandhi in a photo from a period album collected by AP reporter James A. Mills, ca. 1931.
© AP Photo / James A. Mills
He claimed that this was his third attempt to kill Gandhi. In 1944, he also made two failed attempts, while in 1948, he plotted the assassination with four others: his brother Gopal Godse, Narayan Apte, Vishnu Karkare, and Madanlal Pahwa.
A trial court sentenced Godse to death a year after Gandhi’s assassination and he was executed in November 1949 after the high court upheld the verdict.
One of the versions also says that Godse tried to kill himself previously, but a Royal Indian Air Force sergeant wrenched his arm and threw away the pistol. Meanwhile, the shattered crowd beat him badly.
Why Godse Killed Gandhi
Gopal Godse, in his book Gandhiji's Murder And After, wrote that Gandhi’s son, Devdas, who was editor of Hindustan Times, came to the police station to meet his father's killer, Nathuram after Matahma's death
Nathuram Godse politely met him and said: “Today, you have lost your father, and I am the cause of that tragedy. I am very much grieved at the bereavement that has befallen you and the rest of your family. Kindly believe me, I was not prompted to do this with any personal hatred, or any grudge or any evil intention towards you."
When Devdas asked his reason for killing Gandhi, Godse said the cause was purely political.
Godse had been an active member of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) and the Hindu Mahasabha, as well as running a nationalist newspaper called Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation).
In his 20s, he was an ardent follower of Gandhi and reportedly even participated in the civil disobedience movement in 1930.
However, in his 150-page reply in the trial court, Godse argued that he performed a moral duty by killing Gandhi.
Indian leaders pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi on Martyrs’ Day and attended Sarva Dharma Prarthana at Rajghat, New Delhi on January 30, 2023.
© Photo : @rashtrapatibhvn
What Godse Said About Killing Gandhi?
On January 13, 1948, Gandhi finally announced the gift of INR 50 million to the newly formed Pakistan. The Indian government had frozen the payment because of the war in Kashmir.
Godse felt that Gandhi pressured the Indian government to reverse its policy decision. In the court, he also said that Gandhi had to be removed from the political stage so India could begin looking after its national interests.
Another part of Godse’s speech in court reads: "To secure the freedom and to safeguard the just interests of some thirty crores (300 million) of Hindus would automatically constitute the freedom and well-being of all India, one-fifth of the human race."
“I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus,” Godse finally told the court.
Gandhi was cremated the day after his shooting near the bank of the Yamuna river with millions of people attending his funeral. His ashes were submerged in the Ganges as per Hindu rituals.
However, after his death, violence broke out in Maharashtra and other parts of the country against the Brahmins (upper-caste Hindus) to which Godse belonged.