'LET'S KILL GANDHI!'
Copyright © Tushar A. Gandhi 2007
First Published 2007
Second Impression 2007
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Dedicated to the victims of violence
and my brother Kush, who was one
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
BOOK 1
1. 'He Ram': Another Crucifixion
2. The Murderers
3. The Plot
4. Bungling the Investigation
5. Mentor Betrayed
6. Attempts That Failed
BOOK 2
7. The Last Years
8. Violence Erupts
9. Bihar Massacres
10. A Lonesome Mahatma
11. City of the Dead
BOOK 3
12. Red Fort Trial
13. Appeals and Execution
14. The Kapur Commission
APPENDICES
I REX versus Nathuram Godse and Eight accused
II List of Witnesses for the Prosecution and the Date on which they Appeared in Court
III The Prosecution's Version
IV The Approver, Badge's Statement
V Inscription on the Murder Weapon
VI The Establishments Associated with Mahatma Gandhi's Murder
Index
Such a one never dies. 'He lives, he wakes
'tis Death is dead not he'
Unto each man his handiwork, unto each his crown,
The just Fate gives;
Whoso takes the world's life on him and his own lays down,
He, dying so, lives.
Whoso bears the whole heaviness of the wronged world's weight
And puts it by,
It is well with him suffering, though he face man's fate;
How should he die?
Seeing death has no part in him any more, no power
Upon his head;
He has bought his eternity with a little hour,
And is not dead.
For an hour if ye look for him, he is no more found,
For one hour's space;
Then ye lift up your eyes to him and behold him crowned,
A deathless face.
On the mountains of memory, by the world's wellsprings,
In all men's eyes,
Where the light of the life of him is on all past things,
Death only dies.
– ALGERNON C. SWINBURNE
from Super Flumina Babylonis
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are many who have contributed in enabling me to take on the task of writing this book, so first I would like to thank all those who in their own way helped knowingly or unknowingly. There are many who have, in some way or the other, made me what I am.
First, I thank my parents Appa and Ma, both my grandmothers Ba and Aijee and my sister Bai, that's what I grew up calling them, for bringing me up the way they did, but for all of them I would have been incomplete. Sonal, Vivan and Kasturi my love and my life, for bearing with all my foibles and me, and for pushing me to write. Hariji, Paritosh and Anish for being patient. Punam who was more of a friend than a brother-in-law, 'be happy wherever you are my friend, you have left a void in all our hearts'. My parents-in-law for having faith in me. Rajan, Devangi, Rashika and Adit for being there. All my relatives near and far who continuously encouraged me. Krishna, for taking care of my home and children. Prabhubhai and Dhanuben, my teachers, who moulded me and instilled in me an insatiable quest for knowledge and learning and also many of the values which I did not realise while studying at Adarsh Bal Mandir and later Adarsh Vinay Mandir, and all my teachers there. I thank all my very close friends Bharat, Pankaj, Vijay, Raju, Janak, Mehul and Susheel, who have always been there for me, and with sorrow in my heart, my childhood friend Arjav, who alas is no more. My friend Bhimsingh Yadav who drove me around Delhi many a times; tracing the route taken by the killers from the Regal Theatre in Connaught Place to the roundabout behind Birla House, and at other times too.
I thank Venkatnarasimhan who faces the brunt of my tantrums at work. Sudhir Gattawar for retouching the photographs in the book, Dipankar Sadekar and Mahesh Baikar for scanning them and to Nipun, Sameer, Amol and Anoop who worked with me at Mahatma Gandhi Foundation when I began writing the book.
I thank Mr. Kanwal Rekhi, Mr. B.V. Jagadeesh and Mr. Harish Mehta, for making it possible for me to be able to write with their kind help. My friends Kanakasabahpathy Pandiyan, Meeheer Mafatlal and Vijay Mukhi who believed in me and stood by me.
I thank R. Sriram who told me to just write and who also put me on to Jaypriya Vasudevan who has been incredibly patient while waiting for me to finish writing so that she could sell the book. Everyone at Jacaranda Press especially Ashwati whom I kept disturbing on her holidays. Deepthi and Sanjana from Rupa, my editors, who reduced my humungous manuscript into shape; I wish they were able to perform the same magic on me!
I am sincerely grateful to Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya for allowing me to keep the books from its library for as long as I wanted them. Dr. Y.P. Anand, former director of Gandhi National Museum and its library, for helping with the research. Also to all the writers who wrote on this subject before me: Manohar Mulgaonkar, Inamdar, Justice Khosla, Tapan Ghosh and the two unknown reporters who wrote Gandhi Murder Trial and Gandhi Hatyakand, I have internalised much of their writing. Especially Pyarelal Nayyar, Bapuji's biographer, Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase Volume X, Part I & II were invaluable. I would like to thank Navjeevan and Pyarelal Foundation for allowing me to use text from the book. The late Jagan Phadnis whose book in Marathi Mahatmya Chi Akher was what inspired me to write this book, and to Y.D. Phadke whose book Nathuramayan gave me a different insight.
I am indebted to my friend Atul Tiwari for helping me with meanings of some very tough Hindi, Hindustani and Urdu words and phrases. I am grateful to Sharada Dwivedi for helping me with some of the establishments in Bombay used by the murderers. To Kamalhassan, my friend, and the gracious Sarika, for making me a part of Hey Ram. I thank the team involved in the play Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy for hardening my resolve to tell the truth. To all those who, from time to time, provided references which threw light on the many hidden aspects associated with the conspiracy and murder. To the late Madhur Valluri whom I never met and to his mother, who was blessed with a tireless spirit and indomitable will, who gave me a book of Madhur's writings, where I found an interview he had done with Gopal Godse, Madanlal Pahwa and Dr. Sadashiv Parchure. To Mandaliya who brought me rare books and magazines, where I found some interesting tit-bits.
Last but not the least my publishers Rupa & Co. for taking on a first-time writer like me. To all those who heard that I was writing this book and encouraged me with their enthusiasm.
A big thank you to you m
y reader. I am indebted.
Namohstute. Shukriya, karam, meherbani.
Tushar A. Gandhi
FOREWORD
On 30 January 1948, Mahatma Gandhi, father of the newly liberated Indian nation was murdered by a Hindu fanatic.
The world remembers Gandhi and pays homage to him on this day but the story of his murder has been forgotten. Every 30 January the heads of the Indian government visit Raj Ghat and lay wreaths at his samadhi. A siren blares at 11 am, reminding the people of India that Gandhi, the apostle of peace was murdered on that day. But his sacrifices have been forgotten. India today is hurtling down that very path, which led to its division in 1947. If this hate and destruction is not arrested, we will cease to exist as a nation. He is no longer in our midst to save us; his martyrdom will have been in vain.
Since 30 January 1948, various groups have circulated their own, and often unfounded, theories about his murder. Many lies have been passed off as truths; half-truths have been intermingled with true incidents and passed off as whole truths. Nathuram Godse, the murderer's act has been glorified by saying that he did it from a sense of outrage at Gandhi's pro-Pakistani stance to the detriment of Hindus. 'Mahatma Gandhi was responsible for Partition'; 'Mahatma Gandhi was sheltering Muslims and had abandoned Hindus'; 'If Mahatma Gandhi was allowed to live he would harm the cause of the Hindu Rashtra', 'Mahatma Gandhi forced the Indian Government to pay Pakistan Rs. 55 crores'; 'Mahatma Gandhi turned a blind eye to the sufferings of the Hindu refugees and pampered the Muslims who had stayed back at the time of the Partition'; 'Killing Gandhiji was the only way to save Bharatmata', these were, and even today are, some of the lies propagated by the followers of Godse and the Hindu far-Right to justify his murder.
But are they true? A generation of Indians has grown up believing them to be true. The silence of the Gandhians, who always turned the other cheek whenever Gandhi was attacked, has strengthened this belief further. Does anyone know that there were four recorded attempts on Gandhi's life before the last two on the 20th and 30 of January 1948? Four of the five failed attempts were made at a time when Pakistan was not even on the agenda of the Muslim League. All the four attacks were made by the extreme Right-wing upper caste Hindus of Poona; three of the four attempts on his life were made by the Narayan Apte-Godse Gang, and Nathuram was caught in two of those attempts.
On 20 January a crude bomb was exploded by a Punjabi refugee, Madanlal Pahwa, during the evening prayer meeting at Birla House. After he was arrested, Madanlal confessed to being a part of a gang conspiring to kill Gandhi. He confessed that the leaders of the gang were from Poona and that one of them was the editor and publisher of Hindu Rashtra and Agranee, Marathi language periodicals published and printed by Godse and Apte. Madanlal led the police to room 40, at Marina Hotel, in Delhi, where the gang leaders had stayed before the failed attempt on the 20th. The police found unclaimed laundry from the room, which bore the initials N.V.G., Nathuram Vinayak Godse. They also found a copy of the then-not-yet released press statement of the secretary of the Delhi Hindu Mahasabha.
After the failed attempt on the 20th, Morarji Desai, the Home minister of the Bombay province, was given information by Prof. J.C. Jain, a professor of Hindi at Ruia College, Bombay, to whom Madanlal Kashmirilal Pahwa had boasted about being a part of a gang who had set out to kill Gandhi in Delhi. Desai ignored Jain's warning but casually mentioned it to Sardar Patel, the Union Home minister, when Desai met him at Ahmedabad. Patel confessed to having information about a conspiracy, but dismissed Jain's story as being too far fetched.
Even with all this information available to them, the police were not able to track down the culprits or establish their identities in time. Ten days later Nathuram Godse, Narayan Apte and Vishnu Karkare met at Delhi railway station's retiring room and proceeded to Birla House. They mingled freely with the crowd who had come to attend the evening prayer meeting. At seventeen minutes past five in the evening on Friday, 30 January 1948, Godse blocked Gandhi's path and pumped three bullets from a 9 mm Beretta pistol into his chest from point blank range. Gandhi collapsed with the words 'He Ram' on his lips.
Godse finally succeeded in doing what he had failed to do on three previous occasions and may be several more. What was the police doing? Were they negligent? Complacent? Or, was it a case of turning a convenient blind eye? The Delhi police had a signed confession from Madanlal which said that the gang was fanatical enough to try again, 'Woh phir ayega,' (He will come back) was often repeated by him during his interrogation. Both the Poona and Bombay police were aware of Hindu Rashtra and Agranee, its staff, and the people behind it. Surprisingly the Poona police was never informed or asked for help. A senior officer of the Bombay police was given the report and asked to take it to Bombay post haste. The officer decided to travel by train via Allahabad, breaking journey there, instead of taking a plane or a direct route to Bombay. By the time the officer reached Bombay, Nathuram Godse, Narayan Apte and Vishnu Karkare had already left and were on their way back to Delhi. When questioned later about his mode of travel, the assistant commissioner replied that he suffered from a fear of flying. His explanation was accepted.
One of the crucial factors in the success of the murder plot was that the police—who were hampered by Gandhi's decision not to allow additional security and frisking of his visitors—did not think of placing constables or inspectors from Bombay, Poona or Ahmednagar at Birla House, who would have been able to identify Godse, Apte and Karkare, known troublemakers with police records in their hometowns. After the murder, Anna Gadgil the veteran Congressman from Poona, was the first person to identify Godse.
The Congress government and at least some of the members of the Cabinet were fed up of the interventions of the meddlesome old man. To them, a martyred Mahatma would be easier to live with. According to a secret report submitted to Home minister Sardar Patel, many in the police force and many bureaucrats were secret members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu Mahasabha, and were actively supporting and promoting the ideology of the Hindu extremist organisations. The gang members were storm troopers of these extremist organisations. Could there have been a tacit cooperation between the two? The way the investigation was carried out, and the lackadaisical approach of the police in trying to protect Gandhi's life, leads one to believe that the investigation was meant to hide more than it was meant to reveal. The measures taken by the police between 20th and 30th January 1948 were more to ensure the smooth progress of the murderers, than to try and prevent his murder.
Gandhi had succeeded in driving out the British. Unfortunately, his puritanism was difficult to follow for his political heirs. To them he was a patriarch who had outlived his usefulness and was now proving to be a nuisance. He had suggested that the Congress be disbanded. He had threatened to go to Pakistan to reverse the process of Partition. He forced them to cancel politically motivated short-term measures in his pursuit of establishing an ideal society. He threatened to launch a social reform movement. He opposed the move to rapidly industrialise India preferring the slow gramudyog model. He wanted the ministers to live as servants of the people and to convert their opulent bungalows into shelters for the homeless refugees. He had asked Mountbatten to vacate the Viceregal Palace and convert it into a hospital for refugees.
How could the political heirs of Gandhi cope with such an impractical old man? If somehow he could be removed from the scene, where was the harm? There was anger against him from certain quarters, why not fan that anger and let it conveniently consume the apostle of peace. The RSS and Hindu Mahasabha were angry with him as he had foiled their plan of a clean partition of the country and a Muslim-free India. When the transfer of populations was taking place these organisations tried their best to ensure a total exchange of population from at least the northern parts of India. Once this was done, it would be easy to drive them out from the rest of India and then a truly Hindu nation would be formed. The Muslim League had already demonstrated this method by efficiently
terrorising the Hindu population of West Punjab, Sind, North-West Frontier Provinces and East Bengal into leaving or being killed. But Gandhi, with his nonviolent methods ensured that this did not happen in India. The Muslims, who were on the verge of fleeing, felt reassured by his efforts. The angry Hindu extremists felt that since Pakistan had been created Muslims had lost the right to remain in India and blamed Gandhi for not letting them achieve this goal. Many Congress politicians too, felt the same way. Very cleverly, the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha fanatics camouflaged their real anger under the guise of outrage about the vivisection of their motherland and the slaughter of their Hindu brethren in East and West Pakistan and conveniently blamed Gandhi for this. The Congress leaders were happy that someone else was being crucified for their blunders.
Brahmins dominated both the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha and were angry with Gandhi for having started the movement for a classless, casteless Indian society. The resurgent lower castes liberated by Gandhi, newly acquainted with their democratic rights, were threatening the dominance of the upper castes and in particular the Brahmins, who under the British, had monopolised the bureaucracy and judiciary. Pre-1947, there was only one Brahmin kingdom in India—the Maratha Empire of the Peshvas of Poona in Maharashtra. The Poona Brahmins always assumed that the day the British left India the reins of the land would fall back into their hands. This dream of the descendants of the Peshvas was shattered by Gandhi.
The first attempt on Gandhi's life took place in Poona when a hand grenade was thrown at his car in 1934. This was at a time when Pakistan, and thereby the giving of Rs. 55 crores to Pakistan, was not even envisioned. RSS and Hindu Mahasabha members used to paste Gandhi's photographs on the soles of their footwear as an insult to him. His photographs were used as targets in camps organised by the Hindu extremist organisations to train their cadres. These were the people who helped Godse and Apte in planning the murder, provided them with support, funds and equipment; they were the ones who celebrated his murder by distributing sweets and bursting crackers. They refer to the murder as 'vadh', a Sanskrit word used to describe the slaying of a demon, as when the forces of good kill the forces of evil, the killing of the rakshasas in Hindu mythology.
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