The editor of the newspaper Jiyajee Pratap, published from Gwalior, Ramprasad, was the last of the witnesses in the trial. The process lasted four months. One hundred and forty-three witnesses testified and almost five hundred items were accepted in court as 'authentic evidence'.
5 November 1948: Additional witnesses were presented in court by the prosecution. The chief clerk of Bombay University, Vinayak Raghunath Darshethkar, submitted the university calendars of the years 1880-81, 1884-85 and 1885-86; the 'result sheets' of the 1876-77 metric exam; and the 1881-82 and 1891-92 B.A. exams to the court. He examined and confirmed the seal of the Bombay University on the certificate which was conferred, in 1886, on S.G. Parchure, father of the accused Parchure. The second witness was the superintendent of the Records Department of Gwalior, Ragahvan. He presented the Military and Civilian Record of Gwalior in which there was a mention of S.G. Parchure, along with his signature. The third was the station-in-charge of the Lashkar Police Station of Gwalior state, Keshav. He had searched Parchure's house on 29th and 30th October, on the orders of Thorat Patil and had seized the birth chart of S.G. Parchure, a photograph and six land revenue receipts from there. Some of the seized documents were presented in court as evidence. An old resident of Gwalior, Shyam Bahadur, said in his testimony, 'On 29th and 30th October and on 2nd and 3rd November, when Parchure's home was searched, I was present. His testimony continued the following day also.' He said he had been living in Lashkar since 1940 and had seen Parchure practice medicine since 1934.
The cross-examination of the witnesses finally came to an end.
THE STATEMENT OF NATHURAM VINAYAK GODSE
'I Alone Murdered Gandhiji.'
On 8 November when the proceedings of the court began, Chief Prosecutor Daftary said that they would not be presenting any more witnesses. The court asked prime accused Nathuram Godse if he wished to say anything to the court. Nathuram replied that he wished to read out a ninety-three-page long statement.
He began reading his statement at 10.15 am. Before reading his statement he said, 'I have divided my statement into six parts. The first deals with the conspiracy and related matters; the second part will throw light on Gandhiji's politics (initial phase); part three will focus on his politics (final phase); part four deals with Gandhiji and Indian independence; part five with the shattering of the dream of independence; and the last part deals with the zenith of anti-national policy of appeasement.' He then appealed to the press reporters not to refer to his statement in an out-of-context and disjointed manner. Daftary objected to this saying that those parts of the statement which were not relevant to the case and were useless in arriving at a verdict should be struck off the record.
At 11 o'clock, while reading his statement, Nathuram began feeling giddy and he fell. After resting for a while, he continued again. It took him almost five hours to read out the entire statement. Through it, he sipped water chewed cloves. He ended his statement by shouting 'Akhand Bharat Amar Rahe, Vande Matram', 'Long live undivided India, Hail to the motherland'.
After Nathuram finished reading his statement, Daftary raised certain objections saying that many parts were inconsequential to the trial and should not be incorporated in the court's record. He cited as an example the part in which Nathuram stated—'I have no respect for the current Government of India, because it is partial towards the Muslims.' However, Atmacharan responded that he could not order certain parts of a written statement to be deleted. They could be irrelevant for the lawyer but for Nathuram they may be essential. He added that written statements were always accepted in important trials in the United Provinces.
The courtroom was almost packed to capacity that day.
A part of Godse's statement has been included later in this book in the chapter titled 'Appeals and Execution'. Nathuram utilised his appeal in the Punjab high court to once again give vent to his anger. The Government of India, at the time of the trial, in a knee-jerk reaction banned the publication of Nathuram's statement, after it was melodramatically narrated in front of the press, in a packed courtroom. The government's action added credibility to a rabid account of a zealot, which twisted facts, based its arguments on incidents taken out of context and exploited the emotions of the people. These are the same tactics used by Godse's political heirs even today. Nathuram's brother, Gopal, published his brother's statement in a book titled May It Please Your Honour. The book was banned by the government, which again garnered sympathy often reserved for martyrs. The blunder committed by the Congress government was compounded when Gopal Godse got the ban set aside by the courts. May It Please Your Honour is today used by the Sangh Parivar, Godse's ideological mentors, supporters and promoters of his action, as a justification for Gandhi's murder.
The language of the statement leads one to the conclusion that much of it either flows directly from the pen of the master orator and wizard wordsmith, V.D. Savarkar or was definitely embellished by him. Savarkar possessed a magical command over the spoken and written word. Even if not entirely written by Savarkar, the final draft was surely worked on by him converting it into a highly emotionally charged document. Although he was known to be proficient in vitriolic writing, Nathuram was not known to possess the ability to sway people's emotions with his words. His was a pen accustomed to spew abusive and vituperative language. It was known that the accused were free to confer with each other in prison and on several occasions, guards had been caught smuggling out messages from the accused. There is no reason to believe that Nathuram was notable to get his mentor and guru, VD. Savarkar, to help him polish what is today referred to by Nathuram's ideological offspring as his last will and testament.
I have written about the last years of Gandhi's life in Book Two, which prove how false is the campaign carried on against him by the RSS-Hindu Mahasabha combine.
9 November 1948: The judge asked Nathuram twenty-eight questions; the accused answered all of them standing in the dock.
1. Godse contested the claim of having met Badge in the office of his periodical in Poona and instructing him to deliver the ordered arms and explosives to the Hindu Mahasabha office in Bombay on 14th January.
2. Nathuram accepted that he had nominated Gopal Godse's and Narayan Apte's wives as beneficiaries to his life insurance policies.
3. Godse accepted that Miss Modak had travelled with them from Poona to Bombay in the same compartment and that she had taken them from Dadar Station to Savarkar's home, in her brother's jeep.
4. Godse denied that he had met Badge, along with Apte, at the Hindu Mahasabha's office in Dadar on 14 January, where it was alleged that Badge was carrying some 'stuff' in a bag on his person. He also refuted the allegation that later he had taken all these people and had gone to Savarkar's home, and that there he had asked Badge and Shankar to wait for them outside while the rest of them went in and chatted with eight or ten people, before coming out.
5. He contested the allegation that he had gone to Dixit Maharaj's home with Badge and Apte; he also denied that they had left a bag containing arms and explosives there.
6. Godse said, 'I did not give Badge Rs. 50 as travel expenses. I have noted having given Rs. 50 to "Bandobhau" in my diary. The "Bandobhau" referred to is not Badge, he is an employee working in my office in Poona'. He claimed that it was the day of Sankranti, 'I had also given Rs. 250 to my brother Gopal. I have made a note of it in my diary'.
7. Godse claimed that it was an absolute lie that on 15 January, 'I along with Apte, Madanlal and Badge went to Dixit Maharaj's home to pick up the bag containing the "stuff", and that during the course of their talk there they had disclosed that they had decided to finish off Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Suhrawardy'.
8. Nathuram denied that on 16 January he had met Badge in Poona and had asked Badge to accompany them to Delhi and to get a new revolver in exchange of his old revolver. He claimed, 'I did not meet Badge on 16 January at all'.
9. Godse accepted that on 17 January, he along with Apte and Badge had gone to th
e homes of three or four people to collect money He denied having met Savarkar that day.
10. The allegation that he had gone to meet Tatyarao Savarkar one last time on 17 January along with Apte at Savarkar Sadan and that Tatyarao had blessed them by saying, 'Yashsvi Houn Ya,' were, according to Godse, absolute lies.
11. Godse accepted that he had travelled with Apte by plane under assumed names, but denied that Apte had told Dada Maharaj in his presence—'Prateeksha karo aur dekho hum kya karte hain', 'Wait and see what we do'. He said that Apte had informed him in court about them travelling under assumed names.
12. Nathuram accepted that they had stayed at Marina Hotel between 17th and 20th January, using assumed names, and that he had given some clothes to be washed urgently to the room attendant.
13. Nathuram contested the prosecution's claim of going to the Hindu Mahasabha Bhavan on 19 January along with Apte and Karkare and having met Badge and Madanlal there.
14. Nathuram denied that on 20 January Gopal had repaired his revolver in the room of Marina Hotel in his presence and Apte, Karkare, Badge and Madanlal had fitted fuses and detonators to the gun cotton explosives. He also denied having told Badge—'Ha amcha shevatcha prayatna, mahnun taiyari kartana Kaalji ghya', 'This is our final attempt, so take care while preparing everything'. Godse claimed that he was suffering from a headache and had not gone out anywhere. 'Badge and Apte were talking about a demonstration at the prayer meeting. I told them—"Go into the next room if you wish to talk, I have a headache and I want to be left alone".
15. Nathuram denied having distributed weapons to the other accused. He said it was false to say that according to the plan Apte and he would only be signalling to the others. Madanlal would explode the bomb and the rest would throw grenades and shoot at Gandhi.
16. Nathuram said—'I did not go to the prayer meeting on 20 January, neither do I know what happened over there or what did not'.
17/18. In response to the seventeenth and eighteenth questions asked by the judge, Nathuram gave the same answer, denying that he was present at the prayer meeting venue.
19. Godse informed the court, 'Neither did I go along with Apte to meet Badge at the Hindu Mahasabha Bhavan, nor did Badge tell us, "Chalte wha, amhala tumchyashee kahihi dene ghene nahin", "Get lost, I want nothing to do with you".'
20. Godse accepted the fact that on the night of 20 January, 'I had travelled by train in the First Class to Kanpur and I had reserved a retiring room at the Kanpur railway station on the 21st'.
21. Godse agreed that from 24 January till 27 January he had stayed at the Elphinstone Annexe Hotel in Bombay, along with Apte. But said, 'Gopal and Karkare did not come to meet me there'.
22. Godse accepted that he had reserved two tickets with Air India Limited on 25 January and that Apte and he had travelled to Delhi by that plane, assuming false identities, on 27 January'.
23. Godse accepted the fact that he had gone to the Mata temple (Mota Mandir) with Apte on 26 January, but denied that he had demanded a revolver from Dada Maharaj. 'I had gone there only to meet Dixit Maharaj, who was lying ill at that time. The conversation that took place there was only pertaining to the need for gathering arms and explosives to counter the atrocities being perpetrated in the border areas of the Hyderabad state'.
24. Godse said, 'On 27 January, after travelling from Bombay to Delhi by plane, using assumed names, Narayanrav and Vinayakrav, Apte and I left for Gwalior on the night of the 27th. We reached there early the next morning and stayed in a dharamshala near the station.
25. Godse accepted the fact that on 28 January they were at Dr. Parchure's home, at 7.30 am and at 4.00 pm, but said, 'It is not true that the pistol we allegedly procured there, belonged to Goel or that I got it from Goel through Dandavate'.
26. Godse accepted the fact that under the assumed identity of Vinayakrav, he had taken a retiring room for twenty-four hours at the Delhi railway station, but denied that Karkare and Apte were present in the room along with him. He said that he had not seen Apte or Karkare on 29th or 30th January. Apte had parted with me at Gwalior itself'.
27. Godse accepted the fact that he had fired thrice at Gandhi. He described graphically his mental condition, a few minutes prior and a few minutes after killing Gandhi.
28. Godse said, 'Just as Gandhiji approached the verandah at the prayer place, I leapt in front of him. I had decided that I would shoot Gandhiji in such a way that no one else would get injured. I greeted Gandhiji with folded palms, but I had hidden the pistol between my folded palms. I had disengaged the safety catch. I imagined that I had fired twice, I found out from the police that I had fired thrice. I became agitated and shouted "Police! Police!!" repeatedly. After I had fired the shots I found that the people were frozen with shock. I remember that first I was caught hold of by a police constable. Later another one came. Then someone snatched the pistol from my hand'.
Godse continued, 'One man came up from behind me and hit me on the back of my head and I started bleeding from the wound. I told him that I had done what I had set out to do and had no regrets about what I had done. I warned the person who had snatched the pistol from my hand that it was an automatic and that I had disengaged the safety catch so he better handle it carefully otherwise it may go off and hurt or kill someone else. The person turned to me and said "I will shoot you". I told him—"Shoot me, I am ready to die." After two hours I got my heart and pulse rate examined.' In the end Nathuram Vinayak Godse said, 'Gandhiji definitely died as a result of the bullets I fired at him, from the pistol in my hand.'
10 November 1948: Replying to questions asked by Atmacharan, Nathuram said, 'On 20 January 1948 I did not drink tea along with Karkare and Shankar in Room 40 of Marina Hotel. Nor were we served liquor. Karkare did not meet me there. I have never drunk tea in my life, yes, I have drunk coffee occasionally.' He was shown his letters and his writing specimens. He agreed both were his own and said, 'When I was asked to provide a handwriting specimen in Marathi at the offices of the CID in Bombay, I was told specifically to put a stroke on top of the letters. The four witnesses who have testified to seeing me at the venue of the prayer meeting on 20 January 1948, must have done so under duress from the police. I have a similar complaint about one of the witnesses from Gwalior too.'
Speaking about the testimony of Dada Maharaj and Dixit Maharaj which had gone against him, Godse said, 'It is likely that they gave such a testimony against me due to the fear that the police would otherwise falsely implicate them in this matter, too.' About Badge's testimony he said, 'Badge ran a business of selling weapons and explosives. I knew all this. On a couple of occasions he gave me weapons, bombs and explosives too, which I gave away to those fighting the Hyderabad state. Then Badge frequently kept demanding sums of less than Rs. 100 from me. After some time I felt threatened by his behaviour. After the murder of Mahatma Gandhi there was general anger against Brahmins in Maharahtra. Badge is not a Brahmin. I think Badge testified against me due to these reasons.' He accepted the fact that on 30 January he had himself photographed, which he had sent to Apte. 'Before this I had never allowed anyone to take my photograph for publication'.
10 November 1948: The second accused Narayan Dattatreya Apte read out his twenty-two page long statement in court that day. He said, 'I am innocent. I was not present at the scene of crime at the time of the murder. I deny outright the charges levelled against me, of being an accomplice in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi and of encouraging, planning and assisting in his murder.' He alleged that, 'In an effort to build a case against me a lot of evidence has been manufactured against me and many witnesses have been tutored to testify against me. When I showed the police the spot behind the Hindu Mahasabha Bhavan in Delhi and "Parchure Vada" in Gwalior, I was held hostage by the police and I was totally at their mercy. Whatever they wanted they would force me to do or accept on the pain of death or with the threat of persecution of my family.'
Describing his background, Apte said, 'I am very proud about being a Hindu. Hindus
must become united and powerful ... I am convinced that Gandhiji's non-violence posed a great danger to the existence of Hinduism.' Apte accepted that he was present in Delhi on 20 January. 'I had gone to the prayer place in the evening. I had decided that I would confront Gandhiji that evening and ask him— "How much of it is your influence in making the Government of India change its decision to not give Pakistan Rs. 55 crores and promising now to do so immediately?" The microphone was not working that evening and so I felt it would be impossible to carry out the demonstration the way I had planned it. It is true that I had met Badge on 15 January. He volunteered to participate in the demonstration in Delhi. I forbade Badge from carrying any type of weapons or bombs and explosives with him to Delhi, because we were going to carry out a peaceful demonstration. But he brought along bombs and explosives with him, and distributed some amongst the refugees; Madanlal was present among them.
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