Nathuram Godse

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Nathuram Vinayak Godse
Ambala Central Jail, East Punjab
, India
(present-day
Beretta M 1934 semi-automatic pistol

Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) (pronunciationⓘ) was a Hindu nationalist[1] who on 30 January 1948 assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.[2][3] Godse was a member of the political party, the Hindu Mahasabha;[4] and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu paramilitary volunteer organisation;[5] and a populariser of the work of his mentor Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who had created the ideology of Hindutva.[6]

Godse together with

British India's Muslims during the partition of India of 1947.[2][8][9]

After a trial that lasted over a year, Godse was

Ambala Central Jail on 15 November 1949.[11]

Early life

Nathuram Vinayakrao Godse was born into a

Chitpavan Brahmin family.[12] His father, Vinayak Vamanrao Godse, was a postal employee; his mother was Lakshmi (née Godavari). At birth, he was named Ramachandra.[13] Nathuram was given his name due to his parents' fear that a curse targeted their male children, caused by the loss of their three previous sons. Young Ramachandra was therefore brought up as a girl for the first few years of his life, including having his nose pierced and being made to wear a nose-ring (nath in Marathi). It was then that he earned the nickname "Nathuram" (literally "Ram with a nose-ring"). After his younger brother was born, they switched to treating him as a boy.[14]

Godse attended the local school at Baramati through the fifth standard, after which he was sent to live with an aunt in Pune so that he could study at an English-language school.[citation needed]

Political career and beliefs

Vishnu Karkare

Godse dropped out of high school and became an activist with Hindu nationalist organisations Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS; National Volunteer Organisation) and Hindu Mahasabha, although the exact dates of his membership are uncertain.[15][16]

RSS membership

Godse joined RSS in Sangli (Maharashtra) in 1932 as a boudhik karyawah (ground worker), and simultaneously remained a member of the Hindu Mahasabha, both right-wing organisations. He often wrote articles in newspapers to publicise his thoughts. During this time, Godse and M. S. Golwalkar, later RSS chief, often worked together, and they translated Babarao Savarkar's book "Rashtra Mimansa" into English. They had a falling out when Golwalkar took the entire credit for this translation.[citation needed] In the early 1940s, Godse formed his own organisation, "Hindu Rashtra Dal"[17] on the Vijayadashami day of 1942,[18] though he continued to remain a member of the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha.[19]

In 1946, Godse claimed to have left the RSS and moved to the Hindu Mahasabha over the issue of the partition of India. However, historical sources do not corroborate this claim; an investigation published by The Caravan in January 2020 revealed that up until his final days, Godse was listed as a member in records kept by the RSS of meetings that took place long after he was supposed to have left the organisation.[20] His family has also said that he had never left the RSS, highlighting that he held membership at the RSS as well as the Hindu Mahasabha.[21] Godse's 1946 claim is also refuted by his first deposition in Marathi after he assassinated Gandhi, where he says that while he did join the Hindu Mahasabha, "I remained active in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh."

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

Main article: Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

In May 1944, Godse attempted to assassinate Gandhi with a knife. He led a group of 15 to 20 young men who rushed at Gandhi during a prayer meeting at Panchgani. Godse and his group were prevented by the crowds from reaching Gandhi. He was released due to Gandhi's own policy of declining to press criminal charges.[7]

On September 1944, Godse again led another group to block Gandhi's passage from Sevagram to Mumbai. This time Godse was arrested with a dagger and he uttered threats to kill Gandhi. He was released again owing to Gandhi's policy of not pressing criminal charges.[7]

At 05:05 pm on 30 January 1948, as Gandhi made his way to a prayer meeting on a raised lawn behind

Birla House, a mansion in New Delhi, where he was staying, Godse stepped out of the crowd flanking his path to the dais. He fired three bullets into Gandhi's chest.[22] Gandhi fell immediately, sending the attendant crowd into a state of shock.[22] Herbert Reiner Jr., a 32-year-old vice-consul at the new American embassy in Delhi, was the first to rush forward and grasp Godse by the shoulders, spinning him into the arms of some military personnel, who disarmed him.[23][22]

Reiner then held Godse by the neck and shoulders until he was taken away by the military and police.[24][25] Reiner reported later that in the moments before he apprehended him, Godse looked a little stunned at how easily he had carried out his plan.[26] Gandhi was taken back to his room in Birla House, where he died soon thereafter.[27]

Trial and execution

Godse was put on trial at the

Ambala Central Jail on 15 November 1949.[11]

Aftermath

Millions of Indians mourned Gandhi's assassination; the Hindu Mahasabha was vilified and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was temporarily banned.

The RSS has consistently denied any connection with Godse. It has maintained that Godse "left RSS in the mid-1930s".[16] However, Nathuram Godse's brother Gopal Godse stated that all the Godse brothers were members of the RSS at the time of the assassination and blamed the RSS for disowning them.[28] The other members of the Godse family too have denied that he ever left the RSS. "He remained a boudhik karyawah till his death."[19]

Attempts at image rehabilitation

Gandhi and the trial of Godse from Godse's point of view.[30]

In 2014, following the Bharatiya Janata Party's rise to power, the Hindu Mahasabha began attempts to rehabilitate Godse and portray him as a patriot. It requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to install a bust of Godse. It created a documentary film Desh Bhakt Nathuram Godse (Patriot Nathuram Godse) for release on the death anniversary of Gandhi on 30 January 2015.[31] There were attempts to build a temple for Godse and to celebrate 30 January as a Shaurya Diwas ("Bravery Day").[32] A civil suit was filed in Pune Court asking for a ban on the documentary film.[33]

In May 2019, in the lead up to the final phase of

Bhopal, Pragya Thakur, called Godse a "patriot".[34] Facing intense backlash, she apologised later.[35]

As Hindutva politics became more widespread in India, there have been attempts to commemorate Godse. The city of Meerut was proposed to be renamed after him but the possibility of such a name change was ruled out by the District Magistrate.[36][37]

In popular culture

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-0-7656-0440-8
    , retrieved 30 January 2022, Because of Gandhi's sensitivity to India's Muslim minority, he was blamed for the partition. In January 1948, in New Delhi, he was assassinated by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a militant Hindu nationalist.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7007-1267-0. Archived
    from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013. Quote: "The apotheosis of this contrast is the assassination of Gandhi in 1948 by a militant Nathuram Godse, on the basis of his 'weak' accommodationist approach towards the new state of Pakistan." (p. 544)
  3. ^ Noorani, A.G. (8 February 2013). "The BJP and Nathuram Godse". Frontline. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  4. ^ Nash 1981, p. 69.
  5. ^ Hansen 1999a, p. 249.
  6. ISBN 978-0-231-51092-9
    , retrieved 30 January 2022, Nathuram Godse (1910–1949), though rarely discussed in histories of modern India ranks among its significant figure, if only as the assassin of Gandhi and popularizer of the teachings of his own mentor, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the inventor of 'Hindutva.' As early as 1927, Savarkar had ridiculed the philosopy of non-violence ...
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-61069-286-1
    . Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  8. ^ Markovits 2004, p. 57.
  9. ^ Mallot 2012, pp. 75–76.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-520-25570-8
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-1-134-01824-6
  12. ISBN 9781136197086
    . Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Early life | Nathuram Godse". Nathuram.com. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  14. ^ Jeffrey, Robin (1990). India, Rebellion to Republic: Selected Writings, 1857–1990. Sterling Publishers. p. 105.
  15. ^ The Hindu (18 August 2004). [1] "RSS releases 'proof' of its innocence". Retrieved 26 June 2007
  16. ^ a b IANS, RSS denies Godse was its member, rebuts Cong claim, Zee News, 30 December 2010
  17. ISBN 1-4008-2305-6
    .
  18. ^ "EXPOSED: The Hindu Rashtra Dal: Inside India's most violent far right groups". India News Co. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  19. ^ a b Venugopal, Vasudha (8 September 2016). "Nathuram Godse never left RSS, says his family". Economic times. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  20. ^ Jha, Dhirendra K. "The Apostle of Hate". The Caravan. Delhi Press. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  21. ^ Venugopal, Vasudha (8 September 2016). "Nathuram Godse never left RSS, says his family". The Economic Times.
  22. ^
    ISBN 978-1-136-32708-7
  23. ^ Obituary, May 26 (26 May 2000), "Herbert Reiner Jr.; Captured Gandhi's killer", Los Angeles Times, retrieved 27 January 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Obituary, May 21 (21 May 2000), "Herbert Reiner Jr., Diplomat, 83; Captured Gandhi's killer in 1948", The Boston Globe{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Trumbull, Robert (31 January 1948), "Gandhi is killed by a Hindu; India shaken; World mourns; 15 die in rioting in Bombay", The New York Times
  26. ^ Stratton, Roy Olin (1950), SACO, the Rice Paddy Navy, C. S. Palmer Publishing Company, pp. 40–42
  27. ^ "Controversy over "Hey Ram"". Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  28. ^ A.G. Noorani. "The BJP and Nathuram Godse". Frontline.
  29. ^ Kurian, Susamma (4 February 2011). "Political drama surrounds play on Nathuram Godse". New Delhi: HT Media. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  30. ISBN 978-0-253-22052-3
    . Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  31. ^ Ghose, Debobrat (21 December 2014). "Hindu Mahasabha head speaks to FP: Godse was a 'martyr' and 'patriot'". Firstpost. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  32. ^ "Hindu Mahasabha announces Godse temple". Deccan Chronicle. 24 December 2014.
  33. ^ PTI (25 December 2014). "Pune court to hear suit against Godse film". The Hindu.
  34. ^ "'Nathuram Godse was a patriot,' says BJP's Pragya Thakur; sparks outrage". www.hindustantimes.com. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  35. ^ "Under fire, BJP's Pragya Thakur apologises for calling Godse a 'deshbhakt'". The Indian Express. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  36. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  37. ^ Mamtany, Sidhant (24 December 2019). "'Meerut will not become Pandit Nathuram Godse Nagar', DM rules out possibility of name change". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  38. ISBN 9788125026419
    . Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  39. ^ Choudhury, Samrat (2 April 2022). "Review: Gandhi's Assassin by Dhirendra K Jha". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 6 February 2023.

Bibliography

External links
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