Nathuram Godse

Nathuram Vinayak Godse
Nathuram Godse at his trial for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi
Born	(1910-05-19)19 May 1910 Baramati, Pune District, Bombay Presidency, British India (now in Maharashtra, India)
Died	Ambala Prison, East Punjab, India (now in Haryana, India)
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Nationality	Indian
Criminal charge	Assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Nathuram Vinayak Godse (Birth: 19 May 1910 – Death: 15 November 1949), was the sole assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, shooting Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range in New Delhi on 30 January 1948. Godse, an advocate of Hindu nationalism, from Pune, Maharashtra, who thought Gandhi favored the political demands of India's Muslims during the partition of India, plotted the assassination with Narayan Apte and six others. After a trial that lasted over a year, Godse was sentenced to death on 8 November, 1949. Although pleas for commutation were made by India's prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and by Gandhi's two sons on the grounds that a death sentence would dishonour Gandhi, who was opposed to all forms of violence, Godse was hanged a week later.

Early life

Nathuram Vinayakrao Godse was born, at the nativity mission center, Pune District. His father, Vinayak Vamanrao Godse, was a post office employee and his mother was Lakshmi (née Godavari). At birth, he was named Ramachandra. Nathuram was given his name because of an unfortunate incident. Before he was born, his parents had three sons and a daughter, with all three boys dying in their infancy. Fearing a curse that targeted male children, young Ramachandra was brought up as a girl for the first few years of his life, including having his nose pierced and being made to wear a nose-ring (nath in Marathi). It was then that he earned the nickname "Nathuram" (literally "Ram with a nose-ring"). After his younger brother was born, they switched to treating him as a boy.

Godse attended the local school at Baramati through the fifth standard, after which he was sent to live with an aunt in Pune so that he could study at an English-language school. During his school days, he highly respected Gandhi. In 1930, Nathuram's father was transferred to the town of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.

Political career

Group photo of people accused in the murder of Mohandas Gandhi. Standing (L to R): Shankar Kistaiya, Gopal Godse, Madan Lal Pahwa, Digambar Ramchandra Badge. Seated (L to R): Narayan Apte, Vinayak D. Savarkar, Nathuram Godse, Vishnu Karkare

Godse dropped out of high school and became an activist with Hindu nationalist organizations Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Hindu Mahasabha, although there have been doubts about the exact years of his membership. The Hindu Mahasabha had at one time backed Gandhi's campaigns of civil disobedience against the British government but stayed away from the Quit India Movement in the 1940s. Both the organisations were opposed to the separatist politics of the All India Muslim League.

Godse started a Marathi newspaper for the Hindu Mahasabha called Agrani, which some years later was renamed Hindu Rashtra. Godse rejected Gandhi's philosophy, believing Gandhi repeatedly sabotaged the interests of Hindus by using the "fasting unto death" tactic on many issues. In Godse's view, Gandhi was giving in to Muslim interests in ways that seemed unfair and anti-national.

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

Main article: Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

Godse approached Gandhi on January 30, 1948 during the evening prayer at 5:17 PM. When Godse bowed, one of the girls flanking and supporting Gandhi, said to Godse, "Brother, Bapu is already late" and tried to put him off, but he pushed her aside and shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point-blank range with a Beretta M 1934 semi-automatic pistol. Gandhi was taken to Birla House, where he later died.

Trial and execution

Following the assassination of Gandhi, Godse was put on trial at Peterhoff, Shimla which housed the Punjab High Court. On November 8, 1949, he was sentenced to death. Among those calling for commutation of the death sentence for the defendants were Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as two of Gandhi's sons, who felt that executing their father's killer would dishonor his memory and legacy which included a staunch opposition to the death penalty. Godse was hanged at Ambala Jail on November 15, 1949, along with Narayan Apte, a co-conspirator. Savarkar was also charged with conspiracy in the assassination of Gandhi, but was acquitted and subsequently released.

Aftermath

Millions of Indians mourned Gandhi's assassination; the Hindu Mahasabha was vilified and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was temporarily banned. However, investigators could find no evidence that the RSS bureaucracy had formally sponsored or even knew of Godse's plot. The ban on the RSS was lifted in 1949. To this day it denies any connection with Godse and disputes the claim that he was a member. However, Godse's brother Gopal claims that all the Godse brothers were members of the RSS at the time of the assassination. According to Gopal Godse:

“All the brothers were in the RSS. Nathuram, Dattatreya, myself and Govind. You can say we grew up in the RSS rather than in our home. It was like a family to us. Nathuram had become a baudhik karyavah [intellectual worker] in the RSS. He has said in his statement that he left the RSS. He said it because Golwalkar and the RSS were in a lot of trouble after the murder of Gandhi. But he did not leave the RSS.”

Attempts at rehabilitation

In 2014, following the Bharatiya Janata Party's rise to power, the Hindu Mahasabha has begun to make various attempts to rehabilitate Godse and portray him as a patriot. It has requested the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to install the bust of Godse. It has created a documentary film Desh Bhakt Nathuram Godse (Patriot Nathuram Godse) for release on the death anniversary of Gandhi on 30 January 2015. There are also attempts to build a temple for Godse and to celebrate 30 January as a Shaurya Diwas ("Bravery Day"). A civil suit has been filed in Pune Court asking for a ban on the documentary film.

Wrong Target

According to an article published in October 2014, in a journal of the Kerala unit of the RSS, Godse had erred in targeting Gandhi. The article implies that Nehru should have been Godse's target instead of Gandhi. According to the article:

Actually, Nehru was responsible for the Partition and all other tragedies including Gandhi’s assassination. On the basis of an honest perusal of historical records and Godse’s arguments, it will hardly be possible to rebuff students of history if they were to evaluate that Nathuram Vinayak Godse had erred in his aim.

The Kerala Home Minister had asked the police to initiate appropriate legal action in this connection.The editor of the RSS journal had stated that he stands by the article.However, the RSS later condemned and disowned the article and claimed the views expressed in the article were solely those of the writer.

In art

• The actor Horst Buchholz portrayed Nathuram Godse in the 1963 film Nine Hours to Rama.
• In the 1982 film Gandhi, the actor Harsh Nayyar portrayed Godse.
• The Marathi language play Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy ("This is Nathuram Godse Speaking"), first staged in 1997, was produced from Godse's point of view.
• The film Hey Ram, made in 2000, also briefly touches upon events related to the assassination.
• Gandhi Vadh aur Main (Gandhi Hatya Aani Me), by Gopal Godse (1967)
• May It Please Your Honor, published by Surya Bharti, India, (2003) - the play based upon the book was banned
• Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, published by Surya Bharti (1993)
• Nine Hours to Rama, Stanley A. Wolpert (1962)

References

1. Elst, Koenraad, Gandhi and Godse – a Review and a Critique, Voice of India, 2001. ISBN 81-85990-71-9
2. Godse, Nathuram, Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, Surya Bharti, Delhi, India, 2003. OCLC 33991989
3. Godse, Nathuram May it Please Your Honor!, Surya Bharti, India, 2003
4. Khosla, G.D., Murder of the Mahatma and Other Cases from a Judge's Notebook, Jaico Publishing House, 1968. ISBN 0-88253-051-8
5. Malgonkar, Manohar (2008). The Men Who Killed Gandhi, New Delhi: Roli Books, ISBN 978-81-7436-617-7
6. Phadke, Y.D., Nathuramayan
7. Pradeep Dalvi’s, "Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy" narrations by robby Raju pathak

External links

• Time Magazine's February 2000 interview of Gopal Godse
• Article discussing Why Godse Killed Gandhi
• Rediff's January 1998 interview of Gopal Godse
• Article discussing pro-Godse play
• Eyewitness to Gandhi assassination
• Eyewitness: Mahatma Gandhi Assassination on YouTube
• First Information Report (FIR) by police
• "An Assassin Speaks" written by Gopal Godse, narrations Navneet singh

Aashih Godse