Nathuram Godse

Nathuram Vinayak Godse (May 19, 1910 – November 15, 1949) born at Baramati, Poona District, is best known as the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, the principal leader of the Indian Independence Movement.

Early life

Nathuram Godse was born on May 19, 1910. He was a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin. His father was Vinayak Vaman Rao Godse, his mother Lakshmi (Godavari before marriage). His father was a fifteen-rupee-a-month employee of the post office.

Nathuram attended the local school at Baramati up through the fourth standard. Then he was sent to live with an aunt in Pune so that he could study at an English-language school.

In 1930, Nathuram's father was transferred to the town of Ratnagiri. While staying with his parents at Ratnagiri, the young Nathuram first met Veer Savarkar, a proponent of Hindutva.

Godse's political career

Godse dropped out of high school and became an activist with the Hindu Mahasabha. They were particularly opposed to the separatist politics of the All India Muslim League. Godse started a Marathi newspaper for Hindu Mahasabha called Agrani, some years later renamed Hindu Rashtra.

The Hindu Mahasabha had initially backed Gandhi's campaigns of civil disobedience against the British government. Godse himself had actively participated in the civil disobedience movement; he had been imprisoned by the government on charges of tree-felling.

However, Godse and his mentors later rejected Gandhi. They felt that Gandhi was sacrificing Hindu interests in an effort to appease minority groups. They blamed Gandhi for the bloody Partition of India, in which hundreds of thousands of people died.

The assassination

The immediate motive for the assassination is usually ascribed to Gandhi's January 13, 1948 decision to fast to the death, a term of which was that the Indian central government reverse a decision to withhold the transfer of 55 crore (550 million) rupees to the government of Pakistan. The transfer had been specified in the partition agreement, but the Indian government had refused to complete it, complaining of the Pakistani military occupation of part of the disputed state of Kashmir.

The Indian government immediately reversed its decision to withhold the funds, which infuriated Godse and his friends.

It is far from clear whether or not the decision to assassinate Gandhi was taken by Godse alone, or whether he had consulted with other Mahasabha members, or even received their help in carrying out the assassination. Mahasabha resolutely denied all complicity, and Godse took full responsibility. However, many critics believe that Godse did not act alone.

Godse assassinated Gandhi on January 30, 1948, approaching him during a public appearance, bowing, and shooting him at close range. The gun used by Godse was a Beretta M1934 semi-automatic pistol in .380 ACP caliber, serial number 606824.

The trial

Following his assassination of Gandhi, Godse, who did not try to flee, was captured, tried and executed. Godse stood trial on November 8, 1949. Godse was sentenced to death for the killing and hanged on November 15, 1949.

Aftermath

Millions of Indians mourned Gandhi's assassination. Some rioted and attacked Hindu activists. The Hindu Mahasabha was vilified and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the RSS, was temporarily banned. However, later investigators could find no evidence that the RSS bureaucracy had formally sponsored or even knew of Godse's plot. The RSS ban was lifted by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1949.

The RSS to this day deny any connection with Godse and dispute the claim that he was a member; they say that Godse was definitively a member of the Congress Party, and that if any party should be blamed, it should be the Congress, not the RSS.

Savarkar was also charged with conspiracy in the assassination of Gandhi, but was acquitted and subsequently released.

A film, Nine Hours to Rama, was made in 1963 and was based on the events leading up to the assassination, seen mainly from Godse's point-of-view.

List of Accused

List of people accused of involvement in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

Main Article: Attempts to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi

References

Nathuram Godse — Why I assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, Surya Bharti, Delhi, India, 2003. ISBN 1375099796.
Nathuram Godse — May it Please your Honor!, Surya Bharti, India, 2003
Khosla, G. D. — Murder of the Mahatma and Other Cases from a Judge's Notebook, Jaico Publishing House, 1968. ISBN 0882530518.

External links

Godse's deposition in court
A pro-Godse site with interviews and links
Time Magazine's Feb 2000 interview of Gopal Godse
Rediff's Jan 1998 interview of Gopal Godse
Site devoted to Nathuram Godse

1910 births | 1949 deaths | Assassins | Indian people

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