"I came alone in this world, I have walked alone in the valley of the shadow of death, and I shall quit alone when the time comes." - Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948.
Mahatma Gandhi, a messiah of peace, who fought and saw an end to an empire with this non-violence, was violently put to death by some of his own people, unable to convert his very own people to his philosophy of peace and harmony. If he had survived, would have perhaps completely changed the shape of India's polity and society, the world may not have been as violent as it is today. Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte, fiercely patriotic Hindu fanatics, who ironically held Gandhi in esteem, put their religious zeal above all and assassinated Mahatma.
The book has been divided into :
1. I shall see to it that there is no blood shed - Lord Louis Montbatten
2. There was no legal machinery by which Gandhi could be brought to book - Nathuram Godse
For them British had perpetrated a fraud and congress had betrayed the nation. Independence was mokery, and insult, tearing off a limb from Mother India's body. They wanted to do something spectacular, that would rock the nation. Thought of destroying ammunition, killing Jinnah. In 1929 at the age of 19, he came under the influence of Savarkar in Ratnagiri whose idle was Guiseppe Mazini - Italian Revolutionary. The credo of the Hindu Mahasabha was to keep India as one undivided nation and a Hindu land, with Veer Savarkar as their undisputed leader who wanted it's members to be proficient in the use of arms. According to him:
"India should be essentially a secular state in which (all citizens) should have equal rights and duties irrespective of religion, cast or creed. (But we) refuse to tolerate that Hindus should be robbed to enable the Muslims to get more than their due simply because they were Muslims and would not otherwise behave a loyal citizens."
This chapter introduces and describes the history of Nathuram Godse (NG), and Narayan Apte (NA)
3. Is it not a futile experiment I am conducting - M.K. Gandhi
Agrani the paper started by NG and NA for which communal ferment was the food and drink, was forced to be closed down, and the same paper was restarted as Hindu Rashtra. The major news provider for this was Vishnu Karkare, whose life and struggle is described in this chapter. So also is the history of various fasts that Gandhi undertook in his life upto his tour in Noakhali. Whenever Karkare came to Pune, he stayed with a man called Kher, where Deputy Superintended N.Y. Deulkar also lived. Deulkar had been on duty at Panchgani when Apte had heckled Gandhi at a public meeting in the summer of 1944, and who knew by sight both NG and NA as hot headed Hindu Sanghatanites who looked upon Gandhi as an enemy of India. Though the vital facts about the plot of Gandhi's assasination and the names of the people involved in it were known to the police in Bombay at least a week before the murder, that information never percolated to Deulkar in Poona. To have defeated such a plot would surely have been the crowning achievement of Deulkar's career as a policeman.
4. I have joined the fire cracker business - Madhanlal Pahwa
During the frequent trips to Mumbai, NA combined business with pleasure by taking Manorama Salvi, a christian out and staying in hotel as Mrs. and Mr. Apte; though he had a family back home. and he was shockingly unsecretive. Dada Maharaj a very rich person got to hear of him and they got introduced to Dixitji Maharaj, his younger brother. Among Dixitji's suppliers of weapons were Digambar Badge from Poona who ran a business called Shastra Bhandar (storehouse of weapon).Shankar Kistayya was his servent, born in Sholapur and spoke only Telugu, was illiterate. Badge made best use of him to do his official and household duty, for a paltry sum, and at times even did not pay that. Karkare was looking out for someone who would sell grenades cheaply and got in contact with Madanlal Pahwa, who came from a small town of Pakistan. He was honourably discharged from Royal Indian Navy in 1946 serving as wireless operator based in Bombay.
5. It was absurd to expect 40 crores of people to regulate their lives on such a lofty plane - Nathuram Godse
Non-Violence did not appeal to all, Gandhi's death was a proof. NG's actions connected with the plot began with nominating Sindhu - Gopal's wife and Champa - Apte's wife for his policy of Rs. 3,000/- and Rs. 2,000/- expecting Gopal and Apte to share the danger lying ahead. Never before involved with his prother's fervent zeal for Hindu cause, into day-to-day living and upbringing of his family, he joined Military Ordnance Service as a civilian clerk. He was aware of the plans that NG and his brother were constantly hatching, but never envisaged his own participation in them. Two brother were very close, and NG , and taken GG into confidence for the service revolver he possessed when with PAIFORCE. So now they were seven in numbers - the three pairs, Apte/Nathuram, Karkare/Madanlal and Badge/Shankar, and the odd man Gopal. The six reached Dadar on 14th January and there took possession of shastra's; except for Gopal who appled for official leave which was sanctioned only from the 17th. Flight for Delhi was booked for NG and NA for 17th Karkare/Madanlal, Badge/Shankar and Gopal were to reach by train. They were leaving trails, as they progressed - Badge left his bundle of shastra with Kharat an MLA in haste, For Manorama Salvi, it was as good as the end of her life, Madanlal spoke about it to his father figure Dr. Jain, who discussed it with Angad Singh.
6. Let Gandhi die, Give us shelter - Refugee sloganam
NG and NA were amateurs for the task that was ahead of them though NG was an avid reader of detective novels by Erle Stanley Gardner and Apte of Agatha Christie. Instead of trying to cover their tracks, they seemed to leave a well-balanced trail. Badge's amazing ability to remember every single thing that happened within his sight or hearing during those days is suspicious. According to him, they had been to Savarkar's house before going to Delhi.:
" NG & NA went up, came down after 5-10 minutes...followed immediately by Tatyarao {Savarkar} who said to hem : "Yeshaswi houn ya" {Come back successful!
They hired the same taxi for the whole day, missed the airport, went to the right one, making an impression on the Taxi driver as well. Meanwhile Karkare/Madanlal invited Angchekar to join them in the trip, shared room. Gandhi had seven point formula requirement for ending his fast, Rajendra Prasad managed to get signature on them on the night of 17th , and took it on 18th morning convincing MG to end his fast . Meanwhile there were shouted slogans: 'Martha hai to Marne Do!, Khoonka Badla Khoonse Lenge! (If he wants to die; let him die! We want blood in return for blood). While NG and NA stayed in Hotel Marina, Vishnu Karkare (VK) and others stayed at Hindu Mahasabha Bhawan after a letter from NG to the secretary Ashutosh Lahiri. In VK's room the final role of each of them was ironed out. Gandhi's health was improving, and there were probability he would start visiting the prayer meeting again.
7. Gandhi responsible for terrible events culumanating in the creation of Pakistan - Nathuram Godse
On 20th morning, the initial date set for assassination NG had severe attack of migraine, so they started late. Morning they went for practice in the woods. Occupied by one of the Birla family's chauffeurs, Chottu Ram, Room No. 3, as planned became the site of action. The window was actually a decorative trelliswork ventilation-grille, with 26 openings in all. Neither Apte nor Badge had actually entered the room to see this window from inside, but they were confident that it would serve their purpose. The weapon was something they had to still decide on. A .38 Webley Scott and a .32 revolver were the two weapons they had. During target practice in the jungle behind Hindu Mahasabha Bhawan they found that the revolver was a 'useless weapon', and they could only rely on the .38 Webley Scott, which needed to be repaired urgently. Though earlier it was decided that two charges of gun-cotton would be blasted to create commotion, later they settled for one i.e. Madanlal - due to lack of expertise; when the report of the blast was heard, Badge would fire Gopal's service revolver at Gandhi, through Ventillation grille. Five grenades were handed to Badge, Shankar, Karkare, Madanlal and Gopal. NG and NA would give signals. They thought that they would kill Gandhi and still go on as though nothing had happened. They hired a taxi belonging to Surjit Sigh, who after dropping Apte, Gopal, Badge and Shankar at Birla house, decided to attend the prayer meeting. Nathuram, Karkare and Madanlal had preceded others. Badge was paralysed with fear, thought it better to shoot in the open meeting. Others motivated him saying plans for escape was foolproof. That NG and NA thought this slaughter justified to kill one man show how sick their minds were. Their victims would have been mainly Hindus, and their act every bit as callous as the worst atrocities they were seeking to avenge. Madanlal placed bomb, lighted match stick, asked a lady near by Sulochana to pick her three year old son and move away; explosion was heard; but Badge or Shankar did not throw the grenades, nor did anyone fire a shot. Sulochana pointed Madanlal to police, and he did not know how to get out. About to return Gopal saw the white bundle in the car, and though of doing it himself, but height of the grille was a little more than 7 feet, and difficult to fire revolver. It was Gandhi's first appearance after fast. Explosion was loud, but Gandhi went on unruffled. In talking about it later, he said the boy is a bahadur (brave warrior) and compared him to Bhagat Singh. Greatly distressed by failure, on their return train journey via Kanpur, when NA said we will try again, NG was first silent, next morning, NG said "I'm going to do it, I don't need any help"; eyes still closed, at that moment NA say MG dead. They were in Mumbai till 27th.
8. They will come again - Madhanlal Pahwa
Next day's prayer meeting, Gandhi spoke of Madanlal with kindness; saying probably he looked upon MG as an enemy of Hinduism. He also made and appeal to the Inspector-General of Police not to harass the youth in any way. According to Madanlal he was harassed and tortured; making Madanlal tell them enough to stop further act by NG or others. First person to be interrogated was Dr. Jain, who gave details to Bombay Home Minister then - Morarji Desi on 21 January, who too did not take cognizance at appropriate time, avoiding further tragedy. Morarji entrusted Jamshed Dorab Nagarvala - Jimmy' Bombay's deputy commissioney in charge of the Intelligence branch. He insisted to the author - "To my dying day, I shall believe that Savarkar was the man who organized Gandhi's murder". He belived that the plot was for kidnapping and not murdering Gandhi. VK, GG and MP, even after serving terms of imprisonment, belived they have served the national interest. Karkare was desperate to do something to help Madanlal, but others refused to help. With the help of Madanlal's relative, they enlisted the service of advocate, Mehta Puran Chand to act for him. At Birla house, when being arrested MP said "Phir Ayega'; so it was not a refugee registering his protest. Others were involved. Mr. T.G. Sanjevi the Chief of Delhi Police gave orders to increase guard at Birla house. No investigation was made of the Hindu Mahasabha Bhavan, and investigation was paralysed.
9. I am mounted on a funeral pyre - M.K. Gandhi
After the fiasco of their first attempt, the assassins were more business like. Back in Bombay, after the January 20 debacle, NG decided, 'he was going to find a relable pistol or revolver, get as close to Gandhi as possible, shoot him, and give himself up. Staying in Bombay's Elphinstone Annexe Hotel, NG and NA booked themselves Air India tickets for Delhi. Again this time, the names were different. From there they went to Gwalior to meet Dr. Dattatray Sadashiv Parchure, a controversial political figure and a successful medical practitioner there to get the weapon to kill, and got an automatic 9 mm Beretta in excellent working order, manufactured in Italy in 1934. The past experience of 20 January had taught them to be careful with the weapon. They reached Delhi on 29th. VK joined them in Delhi. If not NA had flirted with the airhostess Ms. Lorna Woodbridge enroute Delhi, or met the two brothers of the Bhuleshwar temple, it might have been difficult to prove NA's present at the site of assassination.
10. Gandhi's fast - Against the Hindus - Nathuram Godse
Since Independence Section 144 of IPC empowering the authorities to disallow public meeting was enforced time and again in various places. Inspite of that on 27th Jan. Hindu Mahasabha called for a gathering to let people know that their organisation had not subscribed to the seven-point peace pledge, one speaker linked Gandhi to Hitler and passed resolution rejecting Peace Pledge and denouncing the government for the payment of the cash balance to Pakistan. It ended with rousing cries of 'Long live Hindu Unity! Turn out the Muslims! Long live Madanlal! Government was horrified. The effect of the peace pledge was wearing of; Pakistan was not at all courteous towards Gandhi; there had been a renewed frenzy of communal massacres there like the 'Parachinar Tragedy'. For Gandhi it was test of his faith, and wanted to make capital of India safe for Muslims; and even celebrate Mehrauli the next day. Hindus and Sikhs who witnessed or had to go through migration were blind with rage. On 29th a batch of refugees from Bannu who was unwilling to put up with Gandhi's philosophical flourishes and had come to see Gandhi and said we owe all our miseries to you, why don't you leave us to our own devices and go and retire in the Himalayas? My Himalayas are here, Gandhi countered. Gandhi also said he wanted to reach peace through agony. To them a week of life under the lash of the Peace Pledge had been like a penance. NG in preparation, took three photographs, and wrote three letters dated 30th January. Together with the telegram that Manorama Salvi was asked to send from Bombay, hope that it would provide adequate alibis to save NA and VK. Police had ample evidence to suspect a plot to kill Gandhi, and wanted to increase his security, but Gandhi was not to give in. On 30th January, Gandhi felt like it was not like any other day - he believed he had accomplished his task in Delhi, and was free to go and got answers to two grappling questions - (1) 'Ungainly skirmish for power' indulged in by congress stalwarts, giving the impression of the greed for power and personal gain - party, he declared, had 'outlived its use'. He had therefore changed its role and drafted for it a new constitution in which he had charged it to withdraw from active politics and serve the people as a kind of Mammoth Moral Rearmament Army. (2) With rivalry of Nehru and Patel, he had to choose who would head the Government of India, Gandhiji's final stand was both should remain, and they could discuss it the next day. Patel had requested Gandhi to relive him and suggested that Jawaharlal was younger and far more popular than himself, and internationally known. With this, he set out for his last walk at around 5.10 pm with his grandnieces Manu and Abha, who were 'living walking stick'. With the pistol in his hands, Godse folded his hands to say 'Namaste', and then, as he testified later, '....the shots went off, almost of their own'. What they heard was conditioned by one man's veneration as Gurbachan Singh said his last words were 'Hey Rama'! and other man's contempt - VK said it was 'Aaaah!. Then again it is possible that both were right, 'Hai Rama!' uttered with last breath may have sounded like cry of pain. Frightened people scrambled for the exits. NG was arrested and taken to Tuqlak Road police station were DSP, Sardar Jaswant filed FIR.
11. If audience constituted jury - verdict would have been not guilty - Justice G. D. Koshla
The murder galvanized the authorities into a frenzy of action. Balchandra Haldipur, part of the special cell on trail of the co-conspirators of Nathuram Gode, was responsible for finally trapping NA and VK in Bombay. Brahmin's were jeered at and stoned, when people got to know the assassin was a Brahmin. If the killer was a Muslim, it would have led to full-scale war with Muslims. Digambhar Badge was arrested at 5.30 am on 31st Jan. He gave out all details quite easy and became police approver. Soon all but Apte and Karkare were arrested.
12. I do not desire that any mercy be shown to me - Nathuram Godse
People from all religion and faith flocked to be part of Mahatma's last journey, some were digging earth from the spot where Gandhi was shot. The news of his death had spread like a shock wave and almost millin people had come out to line the route of Gandhi's funeral procession. Complying with Gandhi's wish that his remains be immersed in the rivers of India, his ashes were collected in twenty urns and later sent to different regions of the country. NA and VK, whether they wanted to or not, became part of the tide of humanity and witnessed Gandhi's body taken past. The trial opened in Delhi in the searing heat of midsummar on 22nd June 1948 at the spacious hall in Moghul stronghold, the Red Fort. The trial went on for nearly 8 months, NG admitted he had killed Gandhi, others pleaded 'not guilty'; On 10th February 1949 the Judge, Atma Charan, delivered this judgement. Only Savarkar was acquitted, of the remaining seven. NG and NA were sentenced to death, and others given sentences of imprisonment of life. Badge got off. Convicted men were sent to the Central jail in Ambala. NG filed appeal in Punjab High Court, against the charge on others. Parchure and Shankar both were given the benefit of doubt, and acquitted, but the sentence of others were confirmed. November 15 was fixed as the day of hanging. Relatives and close friends were allowed to visit for half an hour. Other three prisoners - Gopal, Madanlal and Karkare were allowed to give them company. Together they recited the second, the eleventh and the eighteen cantos of the Gita. As they walked towards the hanging shed, they both shouted:'Akhand Bharat Amar Rahe!' (Long live undivided India!). As they moved towards the single gallow, they sang Sanskrit verse : 'Even as we die, we salute you, our land of birth.' They were cremated with Hindu rites in the open ground outside prison wall, and ashes immersed in a nearby river, the Ghaggar, under a strict cloak of secrecy.
With 354 pages it was 8 of 2020.
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