One of the most recognisable historical figures is Mahatma Gandhi. On the 30th January 1948
at the age of 78, Gandhi was shot dead with three bullets being fired into his chest at
point blank range. He fell to the ground, and was then carried away before shortly after
he died. His assassin was Nathuram Godse, a man who disagreed with Gandhi’s work,
and he was grabbed and arrested before he was placed on trial. The crowd who witnessed
the execution were in great shock, as the nonviolent resistance leader and advocate
was brutally slain. But what is the story of the execution of the man that shot Gandhi?
Join us today as we find out, and remember to support our channel, please make sure to
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Gandhi in 1921, assumed leadership of the Indian National Congress and he led a nationwide
campaign for easing poverty, helping women’s rights and achieving self rule. He wore a
short shot woven from hand spun yarn to speak to the rural poor of India, and he lived in
a self sufficient residential community where they ate simple foods and had long fasts,
as a way of political protest sometimes. Gandhi led Indian people to challenge the British
imposed salt tax which led to the Salt March, and he then called for the British to quid
India in 1942. Throughout his life he was imprisoned and held a number of times being
regarded as a trouble maker. Britain would grant India independence, but partition the
land between two dominions, a hindu majority India and a muslim majority Pakistan. With
this, many people were displaced and there was great religious violence. Gandhi visited
the affected areas and tried to calm things down, and he went on a number of hunger strikes
to stop the religious violence, with his final strike beginning in Delhi on the 12th January
1948 when he was 78. This was a few weeks before he was shot dead.
His assassin Nathuram Goose became an activist with the Hindu nationalist organisation the
RSS, and he joined the group in 1932. During this time he translated books into English
with another, but he was considered a volatile member of the group. In 1946, Godse said he
left the RSS and moved to the Hindu Mahasabha, due to the partition of India. But it was
also claimed that even up to his final days that Godse was listed as a member of the RSS
even after he was alleged to have left this organisation. The RSS was a right wing paramilitary
volunteer organisation, and it ridiculed Gandhi’s non-violent work. Godse and his assassination
accomplices were residences of the Deccan region, and he had led civil disobedience
movement against the muslim ruler of the area. He also joined a protest march, and was arrested
for political crimes and served a prison sentence. But when he was out of prison he continued
civil disobedience, but then plans to assassinate Gandhi were drawn up and initiated. On the
day than Gandhi went on hunger strike, Godse and his colleagues began to plot how to kill
him. Godse purchased a Beretta pistol, and then his friends began to shadow his movements.
Gandhi had been staying at the Balmiki Temple in the north part of New Delhi. But he moved
to Birla House, a large mansion on the Albuquerque Road in New Delhi. Gandhi was living in two
modest rooms in the left wing. The first attempt to assassinate him occured on the 20th January
1948. It was said that Godse and his colleagues followed Gandhi to a park where he was speaking.
One threw a grenade from the crowd, and the loud explosion scared the crowd which created
a stampede. Gandhi was left alone on the platform, and the plan was to throw a second grenade,
but one accomplice lost his courage and he did not throw the second grenade and ran away
with the crowd. Gandhi was joined by his great niece Manuben, and she was walking with Gandhi
when he was assassinated. It was said that Gandhi started the day in Birla house, and
he then worked on a congress constitution he wanted to public, and then had a bath and
a massage at 8am. He told his niece to take care of herself, and then after his bath he
was weighed and he ate lunch and discussed riots. Following lunch he napped, and then
he awoke and had a meeting with others.
After the meeting he was walking to prayer, and he walked with Manuben to his right, and
a young man in khaki pushed through the crowd and bent over with his hands folded. It was
believed the man wanted to tough Gandhi’s feet, and after this his niece told the man
that Gandhi was already 10 minutes late for prayers. This man was Godse the assassin,
and then four shots were fired, and large booms echoed around and smoke was everywhere.
Gandhi then fell, and a crowd pushed towards them, and there was blood everywhere. It took
10 minutes to carry him back into the house and there was no doctor on hand, and there
was only a small first aid box to treat his wounds. It was said, ‘the first bullet from
the assassin’s seven bore automatic hit the belly 3.5 inches to the right of the middle,
and 2.5 inches above the naval, the second hit the belly 1 inch from the middle, and
the third 4 inches to the right. Gandhi suffered heavy blood loss, and everyone was crying.
However as the people were phoning for an ambulance, Gandhi was pronounced dead.
It was said that Gandhi’s assassin was seized by Herbert Reiner Junior a 32 year old man
from the American embassy. He had reached Birla House and he found himself in the crowd,
but he viewed the security measures around Gandhi as inadequate. He said that, ‘"For
a few seconds no one could believe what had happened; every one seemed dazed and numb.
And then a young American who had come for prayers rushed forward and seized the shoulders
of the man in the khaki coat. That broke the spell. ... Half a dozen people stooped to
lift Gandhi. Others hurled themselves upon the attacker. ... He was overpowered and taken
away" Reiner also stated that, ‘Godse stood nearly motionless with a small Beretta dangling
in his right hand and to my knowledge made no attempt to escape or to take his own fire.
... Moving toward Godse I extended my right arm in an attempt to seize his gun but in
doing so grasped his right shoulder in a manner that spun him into the hands of Royal Indian
Air Force men, also spectators, who disarmed him. I then fastened a firm grasp on his neck
and shoulders until other military and police took him into custody.’ It was claimed that
Godse was beaten, and that but for those who seized him he would have shot his way out.
Other sources claimed that he surrendered voluntarily, and other says he was rushed
and beaten badly by the crowd.
The assassination was investigated and another of accomplices were arrested. Along with Godse,
other members of the Hindu Mahasabha were arrested, and the trial at the lower court
began on the 27th May 1948. It ran for eight months, and the court found all the defendents
as guilty. Nathuram Godse was sentenced to death by hanging, and all of those except
Godse appealed their conviction. Godse came to terms with his death sentence, and he wanted
to accept that he was solely responsible for the assassination, and he claimed that all
the others were innocent and should have been released. It was said that, ‘Godse ... tried
to use the courtroom as a political forum by reading a long declaration in which he
tried to justify his crime. He accused Gandhi of complacency towards Muslims, blamed him
for the sufferings of Partition and generally criticized his subjectivism and pretension
to a monopoly of the truth.
Although his attacks were met with some echo in high-caste Hindu circles traditionally
hostile to Gandhi, he could not create a groundswell of opinion in his favour.’ During his statement
to the court during the appeal it was said, ‘The audience was visibly and audibly moved.
There was a deep silence when he ceased speaking. Many women were in tears and men were coughing
and searching for their handkerchiefs. The silence was accentuated and made deeper by
the sound of a[n] occasional subdued sniff or a muffled cough. It seemed to me that I
was taking part in some kind of melodrama or a scene out of a Hollywood feature film.
... the audience most certainly thought Godse's performance was the only worth-while part
of the lengthy proceedings ... I have no doubt that had the audience of that day been constituted
into a jury and entrusted with the task of deciding Godse's appeal, they would have brought
in a verdict of 'not guilty' by an overwhelming majority.’
Godse’s death sentence was confirmed and he was to be hanged on the 15th November 1949.
He was executed inside of the Ambala Jail, and a witness said that, ‘ Godse "repented
of his deed and declared that were he to be given another chance he would spend the rest
of his life in the promotion of peace and service of the country". "The two condemned
prisoners were led out of their cells with their hands pinioned behind them. Godse walked
in front. His step occasionally faltered. His demeanour and general appearance evidenced
a state of nervousness and fear.""He tried to fight against it and keep up a bold exterior
by shouting every few seconds the slogan 'Akhand Bharat' [undivided India]. But his voice had
a slight croak in it and the vigour with which he had argued his case at the trial and in
the High Court seemed to have been all but expended," He was placed on the gallows structure,
and was hanged until he was dead for the killing of Gandhi and along with another man, they
were the first convicts to be executed in an independent India.
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