Before leaving Poona, Godse had boasted to his journalist friends that some important news concerning Gandhi would soon reach them from Panchgani. Joglekar, a reporter working for Godse's periodical Agranee, corroborated this fact. A. David, the then editor of the Poona Herald, stated under oath, while deposing before the Kapur Commission, which was set up in the late Sixties to investigate the conspiracy behind Gandhi's murder, that Godse had made an attempt on Gandhi's life and he had also heard of his boast to fellow journalists about the planned attack. In a small news item, the Times of India reported that a Poona-based editor had attempted to assault Gandhi.
The police records show that there were day-long demonstrations against Gandhi at Panchgani. The records also mention that Godse was held for trying to rush at Gandhi shouting slogans but does not state whether he was armed. Dr. Sushila Nayyar, Gandhi's physician and close associate, testified before the Kapur Commission that one of the protesters was found to be carrying a dagger, but could not confirm whether it was Nathuram Godse. However, the two men who overpowered Godse—Manishankar Purohit and D. Bhilare Guruji— testified to this attack during the Kapur Commission, and stated that they had caught and disarmed Nathuram Vinayak Godse, that day at Panchgani.
I had the opportunity to meet Bhillare Guruji on 13 January 2007 at Sangli. He is in his mid-eighties, a very strong and active man with a razor-sharp memory. Asked to narrate the happenings of that fateful day sixty-three years ago, Bhillare firmly stated that Nathuram Godse tried to attack Gandhi. According to Bhillare, Nathuram was brandishing a jambhiya, dagger. Describing how he intercepted Nathuram and disarmed him with the help of Manishankar Purohit, Bhillare said that when they grappled with Nathuram and wrestled him to the ground, Gandhi hailed them and instructed them not to be rough with the attacker. He wanted them to bring Nathuram to him so they could talk. Bhillare also mentioned that Vishnu Karkare, Thatte, Badge and Gopal Godse were also present in the group which had arrived from Poona to hold an anti-Gandhi demonstration. All these people were involved in Gandhi's murder four years later.
THE THIRD ATTEMPT—THREAT TO LIFE AT SEVAGRAM; GODSE INVOLVED
September 1944, Sevagram:
In 1944, Gandhi was preparing to hold talks with Jinnah, but the Hindu Mahasabha and RSS were opposed to this. Nathuram Godse and L.G. Thatte announced their resolve to prevent the two from meeting. They publicly threatened to do whatever was required to achieve their objective. Gandhi began his talks with Jinnah in Bombay on 9 September 1944. The talks lasted for eighteen days, and proved to be futile. But Gandhi had given his best and had been most sincere in his attempt to win over an obstinate Jinnah.
Gandhi travelled from Sevagram to Bombay for the talks. Godse and Thatte led a gang of men to stop Gandhi and were joined by some more from Bengal. The gang picketed the front gate of Sevagram Ashram to ensure that Gandhi did not leave for Bombay. Dr. Sushila Nayyar testified before the Kapur Commission, that Nathuram Godse was stopped and detained by Ashramites as he tried to reach Gandhi and a 'jambiya', dagger, was found on his person. The police report of the assault also corroborates this fact. The report adds: 'It wasn't certain that they meant to harm Gandhi, but they were armed and determined to stop him from meeting Jinnah at any cost'.
Pyarelal, in his letter to Tej Bahadur Sapru wrote: 'The leader of the protestors at Sevagram, an extremely bitter and fanatical die-hard, was ready to go to any lengths to stop Gandhiji from meeting Jinnah. The arresting officer who recovered the dagger from the leader of the band asked him mockingly, whether he wanted to become a martyr. The leader replied that when Gandhi was eventually killed one of them would become a martyr. The officer again asked him why they were wasting their time and lives in the fight between their leaders and Gandhi. If Gandhi was to be stopped why didn't they leave it to Savarkar, their leader? The leader of the gang replied "If Savarkar talks with Gandhi it will be an honour for Gandhi. The time will not come for Savarkar to talk to Gandhi. Gandhi will be dealt with by this Jamadar".' Pyarelal wrote that the person indicated by the group leader was Nathuram Godse.
No clarification is given about the others in the gang.
THE FOURTH ATTEMPT—TRAIN SABOTAGED, EN ROUTE TO POONA
29 June 1946, en route to Poona by train:
On his way to Poona, the train carrying Gandhi—known as the 'Gandhi Special'—met with an accident between the Nerul and Karjat stations on the night of 29 June. The engine driver in his report claimed that he saw boulders placed on the tracks in front of the train with the intention to derail it. The train crashed into the boulders, but a tragedy was averted because the engine driver was alert and had applied the emergency breaks which slowed down the train before impact. The wheels and axle of the engine were severely damaged, however. Another engine was sent and the 'Gandhi Special' was taken to Poona. Gandhi slept through the entire episode.
The Poona police claimed that the boulders were placed by looters to stop goods trains. But the railway records showed that there were no such trains on the section before or after the train known as the 'Gandhi Special' carrying Gandhi to Poona that day. The police have not discounted sabotage, and since the 'Gandhi Special' was the only train on that route at that time, it was most likely the target.
On 30 June, speaking at the prayer meeting at Poona, Gandhi said, 'By the grace of God I have escaped from the jaws of death seven times. I have not hurt anybody nor do I consider anybody to be my enemy, I can't understand why there are so many attempts on my life. Yesterday's attempt on my life failed. I will not die just yet, I aim to live till the age of 125'.
'But who will allow you to live that long,' was Nathuram Godse's mocking retort. This was mentioned after Gandhi's murder, by a few people who claimed to have been present at that very prayer meeting. This disclosure finally coerced the government into appointing the Kapur Commission of Inquiry. On 20 January 1948, a bomb exploded a few metres behind where Gandhi sat to conduct his evening prayer meeting. Madanlal Pahwa was arrested from the scene. According to his confession, the bomb explosion was a part of an attempt to murder Gandhi. Madanlal gave the police details of who was behind the attempt, and added, Woh phir ayega', 'He will come back'.
On 30 January 1948, at 5.17 pm, ten days after the last failed attempt, Nathuram Godse walked up to Gandhi, pulled out an automatic pistol and pumped three bullets into his chest from a distance of three feet.
Godse had finally succeeded in killing Mahatma Gandhi.
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* In writing this, I have referred to Pyarelal's Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase, Tendulkar's Mahatma and Mahatmey Chi Akher (The End of the Mahatma) a book in Marathi by the late Jagan Phadnis.
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BOOK 2
7
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THE LAST YEARS
'There go my people and I must follow them for I am their leader.'
– MARTIN LUTHER KING
The last two years of Gandhi's life were tumultuous. His moment of triumph had turned into unmitigated tragedy; his beloved motherland was being divided. Even more tragic was the fact that the people whom he had so painstakingly united to fight against a colonial power were now turning against, each other. The cornerstone of his faith—nonviolence—was being put to its most severe test. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore had implored him:
'Aekla chalo re,
Walk alone.'
Walk Alone.
If they answer not to thy call, walk alone;
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing
the wall,
O thou of evil luck,
open thy mind and speak out alone.
If they turn away and desert you when
crossing the wilderness,
O thou of evil luck,
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone.
If they do not hold up the light
when the night is troubled with storm,
O thou of evil luck,
with the thunder-flame of pain ignite
thine own heart
and let it burn alone
During the last two years of his life, apart from a small band of loyal camp followers, Gandhi walked alone.
BRITISH INTRIGUE
Gandhi was released, earlier than expected, on 6 May 1944, twenty-one months after his detention on the eve of 9 August 1942, after giving the clarion call of 'Quit India' and 'Do or die'. His last imprisonment, at Aga Khan Palace, had been traumatic. He had lost two of his closest companions, his wife Kasturba, and Mahadev Desai, his secretary of twenty-five years whom he had loved as a son. He had cremated them on the grounds of the prison camp and then lovingly built two small memorials from stone and mud.
As the car carrying Gandhi out of the prison camp reached the gates, he glanced out of the window and caught a fleeting glimpse of a pile of wood in a corner of the compound. Enough sandalwood had been stocked by his British jailors for his funeral, in case he died while in prison. Twice during his last incarceration, the administration had assumed that he was on his death bed. Once, when he went on a fast, the guard around the detention camp had been doubled and the armed forces and police were on high alert throughout the Raj to suppress any agitation caused by the news of Gandhi's demise. The second time was when he was suffering from dysentery and malaria. This time the Foreign Office even issued a guideline to all its offices worldwide on how his obituaries should be written, which was signed by the foreign secretary, Anthony Eden. The Chungking Office received a copy while the Indian savant and philosopher Dr. S. Radhakrishnan happened to be there. The instructions on the despatch were: 'In case of Gandhi's death do not diminish his moral stature, acknowledge his uncompromising allegiance to unworldly ideals, express regret that his unrivalled influence was not at the service of the Allied Nations, especially China and India'.
Gandhi would not die that easily though, not while his work was still incomplete. As the car proceeded towards Parnakutir, the mansion of Lady Premlila Thackersey, Gandhi was thinking about Kasturba and Mahadevbhai. 'She had been so eager to get out of prison. Yet I know she would not have had a better death.' 'Both she and Mahadev laid down their lives at the altar of liberty They have become immortal.' In memory of Kasturba, Gandhi wrote to the government of Bombay province on the day he was released, 'I wish to put on record ... that by reason of the cremation of the corpses of Shri Mahadev Desai and then my wife, the place of cremation ... becomes consecrated ground.... I trust that the plot will be acquired by the Government.... I would like to arrange for the upkeep of the sacred spot and daily prayers'.
The British released him when the Allied war machine swept across the English Channel and landed on the beaches of France to reclaim Nazi-occupied Europe to finally crush the Nazi war machine. This led to the surrender of the Axis in Europe and the suicide of the Nazi Adolf Hitler, to bring to an end one of the most devastating wars in the twentieth century in Europe.
After his release from prison the British continuously tried every ploy to get Gandhi to retract the 1942 resolution of the Congress asking the British to quit India and declare independence. Gandhi insisted that the resolution was passed by the CWC and only they could withdraw it. The entire leadership of the Congress was in various prisons; Gandhi demanded that they should either be released or be allowed to meet in prison to decide on the future course of action. To Lord Wavell, the viceroy, he wrote asking him to, 'Find the keys to Aurangabad Fort' where almost the entire CWC was detained, if he wanted to make progress on the Indian question.
To his bitter critic, the British wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, he wrote seeking permission to allow him to meet with the CWC in prison. Below is reproduced the letter from Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase by Pyarelal Nayyar.
Dilkhusha,
Panchgani
17th July, 1944
Dear Prime Minister,
You are reported to have the desire to crush the 'Naked Fakir' as you are said to have described me. I have been long trying to be a fakir and that naked—a more difficult task. I, therefore, regard the expression as a compliment though unintended. I approach you then as such and ask you to trust and use me for the sake of your people and mine and through them those of the world.
Your Sincere Friend,
M.K. Gandhi
The letter to Churchill went astray. Two months later another copy was sent. Churchill responded indirectly, thanking Gandhi for his letter via the viceroy's office. It was quite clear that the British were not willing to listen to any demand from Gandhi or the Congress. They had their own game plan. In his reply, then viceroy Lord Wavell wrote that he did not see anything constructive either in asking to be allowed to meet and confer with the CWC members or in the basis of a settlement as proposed by him. Gandhi expressed his disappointment at the stance taken by the viceroy and submitted a 'concrete proposal': 'I am prepared to advise the Working Committee to declare that in view of changed conditions mass Civil Disobedience envisaged by the resolution of August, 1942, cannot be offered and that full cooperation in the war effort should be given by the Congress if a declaration of immediate Indian Independence is made and a National Government responsible to the Central Assembly be formed subject to the proviso that during the pendency of the war, the military operations should continue, as at present but without involving any financial burden on India'. This proposal was made on 30 July 1944. He concluded with the message: 'I shall continue to knock so long as there is the least hope of an honourable settlement'.
But the British were in no mood for an 'honourable settlement'. After raising their pet bogeys about 'their duty to safeguard the interests of the racial and religious minorities and of the depressed classes, and their treaty obligations to the Indian states' which came in the way of acceding to Gandhi's demand, and reminding him that the British offer made by Sir Stafford Cripps of unqualified freedom after the cessation of hostilities was 'conditional upon the framing of a constitution agreed by the main elements of India's national life', Wavell further reiterated that 'it was the most pious desire of His Majesty's Government to settle the vexed Indian problem'. He concluded, 'But proposals such as those put forth by you are quite unacceptable to His Majesty's Government as a basis of discussion.' The reply was from Wavell but the language was that of Prime Minister Churchill. Gandhi commented that the viceroy's reply meant that 'unless all the main parties agree to the constitution of the future, and there is agreement between the British Government and the main parties, there is to be no change in the constitutional position, and the Government of India as at present is to be carried on.... It is as clear as crystal that the British Government do not propose to give up the power they possess over the 400 millions, unless the latter develop strength enough to wrest it from them. I shall never lose hope that India will do so by purely moral means'.
And so he led continuous non-violent demonstrations against the British. His was the method of erosion caused by flowing water and wind; although it took time, they continuously gnawed away at the imposing rocks, till the mountains turned into dust.
Finally, in 1945, the war ended. The Allies were triumphant but the British Empire was crumbling. They had realised that they had lost whatever moral right they had assumed, to keep many parts of the world enslaved; they had to let go of their empire piece by piece. India was one of the most important colonies that they would have to soon give up. But the British were not going to let go that easily. If they had to give up the jewel in their crown, they would extract a dear price for it. They knew that when they left they would have to hand over power to the Congress, their bitter enemy, one who had extracted a far greater price from them than they had ever paid in any of the violent wars they had fought to build their empire. The non-violent fight for freedom had made the British lose face. They would use their allies, the newly revived Muslim League led by Jinnah, and the princely states to divide India in such a way that the shape of independent India would resemble the ta
ttered remains of a once glorious tapestry.
Earlier, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the self-proclaimed leader of India's Muslims, had abandoned India and the freedom movement after the Round Table Conference and moved to London where he had established a legal practice in the Privy Council. In the 1930s he was invited to come back to India by the rich middle class, the ultra-conservative elements of the Muslim community, with the tacit approval of the British government, to revive the moribund Muslim League as a counter-force to the political monopoly of the Congress. The pork-eating, Scotch-loving and chain-smoking brown sahib, Jinnah, overnight became a Muslim fundamentalist, but only in public. He thwarted the attempts of the Congress to put up a united front against the British. He sided with the British when the Congress refused to join the war effort and launched the Quit India movement. Under his leadership the League barely managed to get five per cent of the Muslim votes, while the Congress swept the 1935 polls and was invited to take power in seven out of the eleven provinces. An embittered Jinnah realised that he would not be able to achieve his political goals in an undivided India under the sway of the Congress and its leader Gandhi. He could, however, realise his lust for power by allying with the British during the war and then demanding a separate Muslim nation as a reward.
Ironically, his ideological rival V.D. Savarkar also adopted a similar strategy to increase his clout over the Hindus.
THE GANDHI-JINNAH TALKS
Gandhi knew that India could only thrive and prosper as an independent nation if all the religious groups and the princely states came together to form a united nation. He was willing to go to any lengths to achieve this. He had realised that the steepest hurdle he would face in this task would be Jinnah, tacitly supported by the British. Gandhi had made efforts to win over the support of both Jinnah and his Muslim League even before he was arrested in 1942 in the wake of the 'Quit India' call. On 4 August Gandhi had made an offer to Jinnah and the Muslim League, through a common friend, Meklai. The terms he offered for a united front against the British were: 'Provided the Muslim League co-operated fully with the Congress's demand for immediate independence without the slightest reservation ... the Congress will have no objection to the British Government transferring all the power it today exercises to the Muslim League on behalf of the whole of India, including the so-called "Indian" India. And the Congress will not only not obstruct any Government that the Muslim League may form on behalf of the people, but will even join the Government in running the machinery of the free state'. Some time earlier, Congress President Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had publicly made a similar offer. Jinnah, who had set his mind on an independent Pakistan, rejected the offer saying that he could not respond to a public statement or one that was conveyed through an intermediary. If the Congress wished to negotiate, its leaders would have to hold one to one talks with him. Gandhi was willing to meet Jinnah, but four days later he was detained and then incarcerated by the British.
Lets Kill Gandhi Page 21