Lets Kill Gandhi

by Gandhi, Tushar A.

  On board the Frontier Mail, Karkare was sitting in a crowded third class compartment. The small-time hotelier and Hindu Mahasabha activist was heading to Delhi on a mission which would bring him notoriety. But, as in all his previous actions, Karkare was going to be remembered briefly and then remanded to a life of ignominy and oblivion.

  In Gwalior, at Parchure's home that morning, he sent his son Neelkanth and bodyguard Roopa to fetch Gangadhar S. Dandavate who knew people dealing in the sale and purchase of guns. When Dandavate arrived at Parchure Wada, he found Parchure in conversation with two men who were introduced to him as Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte of Poona. Parchure asked Dandavate to procure a revolver for his friend Godse, who offered to pay for the gun. Dandavate asked Parchure to give them his own weapon but Parchure angrily replied, 'I am not a fool to give my own gun which can be easily traced back to me. You do what you are told.' Dandavate promised to do his best and left. Parchure then left for his clinic.

  In the afternoon, at about 12.30 pm, Madhukar K. Kale, a Hindu Mahasabha activist, visited Parchure's house. He wanted to know what the Mahasabha planned to do to protest against the Maharaja's decision to invite the Congress to form a government and ignore the legitimate claim of the Hindu Mahasabha. He found Parchure in conversation with two strangers and Dandavate. Both the strangers were holding country-made revolvers. Nathuram and Apte could not operate the guns. Dandavate offered to demonstrate and so they went out into the backyard. Here Dandavate aimed at a tree and fired a round. But when Nathuram tried, he was unable to compress the trigger. Nathuram requested Dandavate to get them a better piece. He said he was in a hurry as he was boarding the 3 pm train for Delhi. Dandavate said he could only manage to get a gun by the evening and the two could catch the night train. Nathuram agreed.

  After Dandavate left, Parchure and his guests retired to the first floor guest rooms of his home. Kale witnessed the entire conversation and the trial of the guns that morning.

  Dandavate went to Jagdish Prasad Goel, a gun dealer, who showed him a gleaming 9 mm Beretta semi-automatic pistol that he had recently acquired. He asked for Rs. 500 for the gun and seven rounds of extra ammunition; there were nine bullets already in the magazine. Dandavate said he would give him the cash after his clients had approved of the weapon.

  Nathuram and Apte were delighted to see the gun. Although they had ample cash and were desperate for it, they haggled over the price. They offered Rs. 300 in cash and the country-made revolver Nathuram had in exchange for the Beretta. Goel was furious, and demanded the entire amount in cash or his gun back. Nathuram managed to convince Parchure to guarantee the balance amount and got to keep the gun for a down payment of Rs. 300. After dinner with Parchure they left for the station at 10.30 pm to catch the Bombay-Amritsar Express. That night the train was delayed by three hours.

  The armed killers were on their way.

  Karkare arrived at the Old Delhi station late in the evening. This time he did not look for a hotel, instead he spread his bed on the platform amidst hundreds of refugees and went to sleep.

  THURSDAY, 29 JANUARY 1948

  At Birla House, Gandhi was up soon after 3 am. He finished his ablutions and prayer in the cold, dark hours. The wind outside howled bitterly. He set himself to spinning on the charkha and dictating letters.

  To a friend Sankaran, who had lost his daughter, he wrote: 'What comfort can I give? Death is a true friend. It is only our ignorance which causes us grief. Sulochana's spirit was yesterday, is today, and will remain tomorrow. The body, of course, must die. Sulochana's body has gone, taking her failings with her, leaving only the good behind. Let us not forget that or her. Be even more true now, in the discharge of your duty'.

  That afternoon some refugees from Bannu, a town close to the India-Pakistan border in Gujarat visited Gandhi. They were survivors from the Gujarat train massacre and had come to meet Gandhi to express their anger. One of them said, 'You have done enough harm. You have ruined us utterly. You ought to now leave us alone and retire to the Himalayas.'

  Gandhi replied, 'I cannot retire at anybody's bidding. I have put myself under God's sole command.'

  The man persisted, 'It is God who is speaking to you through us. We are besides ourselves with grief.'

  Gandhi patiently replied: 'My grief is not less than yours,' and was able to pacify the grieving refugees.

  That evening, speaking at the prayer meeting, Gandhi narrated the incident and added, 'I cannot run away from you and enjoy the peace of the mountains. But if all of you go to the Himalayas, I might follow you as your humble servant.'

  It had been a hectic day and by the evening Gandhi was exhausted. 'My head is reeling. And yet I must finish this,' he remarked to Abha, pointing to the draft of the constitution of the Congress, which he had undertaken to prepare for the CWC, and added, 'I am afraid I shall today have to keep late hours.'

  At 9.15 pm, he finally rose to go to bed. It was his practice to have a casual, and often lighthearted, banter with those who sat around. That day he said, 'I allow the girls to become my walking sticks, but really I have accustomed myself to not depending on anybody for anything. Girls come to me as to their father. Personally, it means nothing to me.'

  Commenting on the political scenario, he wondered why some Congressmen, who had toiled and sacrificed for the country's freedom and on whom now rested the burden of independence, were succumbing to the lure of the office and power. 'Where will this take us? How long will this last? Shall we be able to maintain our prestige in the world? Where do I stand? What must I do to realise unruffled calm and serenity in the midst of disquiet?' Then in a tone of infinite sadness, he repeated the well-known verse of Nazir, the celebrated Urdu poet from Allahabad:

  'Short lived is the splendour of Spring

  in the garden of the world.

  Watch the brave show while it lasts.'

  The racking cough that had plagued him for the past few days started bothering him again. He had been advised to suck Penicillin lozenges to subdue the cough, but he reiterated, for the last time, his resolve to be cured by the power of Lord Ram's name alone. To Manu he said, 'If I die of a lingering illness, nay even by as much as a boil or a pimple, it will be your duty to proclaim to the world, even at risk of making people angry with you, that I was not the man of God that I claimed to be. If you do that, it will give my spirit peace. Note down this too that if someone were to end my life by putting a bullet through me—as someone tried to do with a bomb the other day—I met his bullet without a groan, and breathed my last taking God's name, then alone would I have made good my claim.'

  At the Old Delhi railway station, Karkare got up and made his way to one of the public lavatories and then had some tea and biscuits at a tea stall. He was in a hurry to take up his vigil by the water fountain in the Queen's Garden across the road from the station.

  Karkare hurried to take his position. The park had been occupied by homeless refugees. After a while he decided that he was too conspicuous and started walking round the periphery of the garden. He sat down to chat with someone who had set up a tea stall. Karkare learnt that he was a refugee who had lost his home and family during the riots and had managed to escape to Delhi with less than what could be stored in one small trunk. After spending time walking and chatting, Karkare was beginning to worry.

  The objects of Karkare's wait were still travelling towards Delhi from Gwalior. En route, their train had been further delayed, and instead of reaching Delhi in the early hours of the morning, they reached at mid-day. Nathuram went to the booking office to get a retiring room. The booking clerk, Sundarilal, asked him to come back later. They went back at around 1 pm and found that a room was available. Sundarilal allotted Room 6 at the Delhi main station to Nathuram Godse, who gave his name as 'N. Vinayakrau'. The two then had a hot meal at the railway restaurant and rested for a while. Surprisingly they did not bother to look for Karkare. At about 6 pm that evening, Nathuram rang for the room attendant Hari Kishan and gave him som
e clothes to be washed. Hari Kishan asked Jannu, a shoeshine boy, to wash the clothes and deliver them to Room 6.

  Karkare kept up his vigil till the early evening. He had survived by drinking innumerable cups of tea and puffing on several bidis. He finally saw his two companions emerge from the railway station and walk up to the fountain.

  The three of them then walked back to the retiring room. Behind closed doors, Nathuram rummaged through his trunk and brought out a gleaming blue-black pistol. Karkare had never seen such a firearm.

  'What about ammunition, where do the bullets go?' he asked.

  Nathuram held up a small packet tied in a handkerchief, which contained seven bullets.

  The three then left to walk down to Chandni Chowk. On an impulse, they stopped at a roadside photographer's kiosk, where Nathuram had his picture taken. He ordered three copies and the photographer promised to keep them ready within an hour. After dinner, Apte and Karkare went to see a film, while Nathuram said he wanted to retire early. On his way back he collected the photographs.

  After the movie Apte excused himself as he wanted to visit Delhi's red-light area. The casanova could not wait to get his hands on Delhi's famous nautchgirls.

  Karkare reached the station well past midnight. Not wishing to disturb Nathuram, Karkare lay down on the platform just as he had done the previous night.

  FRIDAY, 30 JANUARY 1948

  At Birla House, the day began as an ordinary winter day. The inmates went about their routine chores. The Birla family, one of India's leading industrial families, occupied a major part of the house. The traditional Marwari household had awakened to the drone of spinning wheels. In the past few months, Seth Ghanshyamdas Birla and his family had become used to this and many other events happening in their home.

  For the subject of everyone's attention, Mahatma Gandhi, this was a day like all the others in his life of seventy-eight years, three months and twenty-eight days. Ever since the death of Ba his personal needs were taken care of by young Abha, his grand-niece in-law, and Manu, his grand-niece. Manu begged to be excused from accompanying him on his morning walk since she wanted to powder some cloves for his jaggery and clove-powder lozenges, which he took to relieve his cough. Gandhi, who did not approve of anyone missing their duty in the present to anticipate and provide for the future, admonished Manu, 'Who knows what is going to happen before nightfall or even whether I shall be alive? If at night I am still alive you can easily prepare some.'

  Gandhi still had to finalise the draft of the new constitution for the Congress party. He had to give finishing touches to the vision he had dreamed for India, his last will and testament for his beloved country. Pyarelal Nayyar, his efficient secretary ever since the death of Mahadev Desai, was to check and correct the final draft which Gandhi would complete after his morning walk. Congressmen were not going to like his suggestion of disbanding the party and forming the Lok Sevak Sangh, a force of volunteer workers who would take up the work of rural development and social reforms. The ever-increasing piles of correspondence needed to be answered. Margaret Bourke-White, the photographer from Life magazine, wanted to shoot a photo feature with him. The French photographer Henri Cartier Bresson was continuously ambushing him with his camera.

  At midday, Gandhi, as was his habit, took a brief nap on a cot outside his room. Manu noticed a young man moving around in the rooms occupied by Gandhi and his entourage. She did not pay much attention to him, but felt that he seemed to be there for a reason other than Gandhi's darshan. He started to question Manu about where Gandhi sat; where he worked; when he ate; when he slept. Finally she excused herself. People often came to see how Gandhi lived and so on, and so this was nothing unusual, Manu thought to herself. A few minutes later, she looked out to see if Gandhi had woken up. She saw he was still sleeping, and standing a few feet away was the same hawk-eyed young man, staring intently at him. When she looked at his face, Manu felt a chill go down her spine. Fearing that he would disturb Gandhi's sleep, Manu walked up to him and said, 'Bhai, Bapu is resting, please come back later.' The young man seemed to snap out of a trance and, without uttering a word, turned around and walked away. Manu was not going to forget his eyes and the expression on his face in a hurry.

  After he woke up, Gandhi discussed the situation in Noakhali with Pyarelal, who had been living with volunteers as a peacekeeper there. Just the previous day Gandhi had sent a message to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherji, one of the founders of the Hindu Mahasabha, who was also a member of the Central Cabinet, requesting him to use his influence over the more fanatical elements of his party. The press and sources close to Gandhi had reported that many of these fanatics had been making increasingly rabid comments in their public speeches, which were inciting violence. Of late, they had been openly issuing threats to kill Congress leaders. Gandhi felt that there were other ways of voicing their grievances and Dr. Mukherji, as a member of the Congress government, should silence those fanatics in the interest of national unity and in the effort to bring peace to a nation which was being torn apart. Dr. Mukherji was hesitant and showed his disinterest in the matter. The extremist fringe of the Hindu Mahasabha had already hijacked the party and the moderates had no say in its running or ongoing campaign of spreading hate.

  Amidst all this, Gandhi also planned to visit Sabarmati Ashram, which he had abandoned when he left on the Dandi Kooch in 1930. Sevagram had become the nerve centre of activities. He was planning on leaving for Wardha the very next day, accompanied by Dr. Prasad and members of the CWC. Prior to that, there was a very important task for him. Lord Mountbatten had briefed him about the growing rift between his two proteges, Patel and Nehru. Their ego-clashes threatened to split the Congress and throw the functioning of the Indian government into total disarray; only Gandhi could bring about a rapprochement, he said. Gandhi assured Mountbatten that he would meet and request Patel to be magnanimous and work unitedly with Nehru. Patel was headstrong, but as the elder statesman of the two and with vaster experience, he would understand the need for two of India's most powerful politicians to work unitedly.

  Nehru was known to be impetuous and impatient with criticism and divergent views. He could be difficult to work with, but Patel would have to handle him carefully and be a stabilising influence on the government in these trying times. If everything else failed, then one of them would have to resign in the interest of the smooth functioning of the government and for the sake of unity. Gandhi decided to talk to the two during his post prayer meeting. Gandhi knew that Patel was smarting over the fact that he had sided with Nehru in the leadership battle of the Congress party. He was also aware that, in the recent past, Patel had displayed his displeasure at the influence exerted by Gandhi over the functioning of the Indian government. But he trusted Patel enough to be sure that he would listen to him and so he had kept his afternoon free for him.

  It was nearing 4 pm. Patel was scheduled to arrive any moment.

  At the Old Delhi railway station, Nathuram got up early. When Karkare entered the room he found that Apte had returned after his night of revelry. After a bath the three of them went to a non-vegetarian restaurant at the station, run by Brandon & Co. Why they went to a non-vegetarian restaurant is a mystery as both Nathuram and Karkare were strict vegetarians. As they sat down, a waiter walked up to them and said in Marathi, 'Namaste Saheb, lamb pravas kelay vat ta', 'Sahibs, you have come a long way from home'. For a split second, the three panicked. Nathuram, regaining his composure, replied, 'You too are far from home. The last time I saw you was at the Poona station restaurant.' The waiter had often served Nathuram and Apte. The last time they had visited the retaurant at Poona, Apte had suggested that they should try once more to kill Gandhi; the same waiter had served them that day. The waiter, recently transferred to Delhi from Poona, was delighted to meet folks from home. For the three gang members, it was an ill omen to be recognised so easily on that day.

  They ordered three plates of buttered toast, tea for Apte and Karkare and English coffee for
Nathuram. While they were waiting for their order to arrive, Nathuram brought his hands together and crossed them at the wrist indicating being handcuffed. After breakfast they went back to their room and locked themselves in. Nathuram wrote three letters. He addressed one each to Apte's home and office address in Pune and one to Karkare's address in Ahmednagar. He enclosed copies of the photograph taken the previous night and wrote explaining his actions to his friends. Nathuram was creating an alibi for his co-conspirators to establish that they were not with him in Delhi on that day. They now got down to discuss the plan for that evening. They were aware that the police presence at Birla House had been doubled since the 20th and feared some policemen from Poona could recognise them.

  Apte suggested that Nathuram could impersonate a photographer and carry a tripod and camera with a black hood from under which Nathuram could shoot at Gandhi. This was rejected as impractical as they may not be allowed to get too close to Gandhi. Nathuram would have to take a shot from far and no one was confident about his marksmanship. Apte's next suggestion was immediately accepted. He suggested that Nathuram hide under a burqa, which would also create the false impression that he was a Muslim. This way, another round of retaliatory violence could be sparked off. Apte and Karkare immediately rushed off to Chandni Chowk where many shops specialised in stitching burqas. They finally got one for fifty rupees.

  In the meantime, on an impulse, Nathuram left for Birla House. He wanted to have a last look around. Surprisingly, he was neither stopped nor questioned. He walked into the rooms occupied by the Gandhi entourage, where he met Manu. He then saw Gandhi sleeping on a cot on the lawns. Nathuram walked up to his prey. This close to the man he was determined to kill, he went into a semi-trance, and was shaken out of it by Manu. He turned around and rushed out of Birla House. He took a tonga to the railway station and reached a few minutes before his companions came back. He kept his little escapade a secret from them.