Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Gandhiji, attempts to piece together facts relating to the assassination of the Mahatma.

To do this he has gleaned over archival material of the time. He meticulously records and intermittently analyses the facts relating to the assassination, the trial and the investigations.

In the whole process he also brings out his own experiences and understanding of the events in the light of his family links.

Gandhi was, “just an old man in a loincloth in distant India. Yet when he died, humanity wept.” This was the observation of a newspaper correspondent at the death of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

Independence was both sweet and bitter for the Mahatma. On the one hand it brought about the independence of the country from British rule. On the other it led to the partition of the country under tragic circumstances. Gandhi did not take part in the independence celebrations.

Beginning with the year 1934, over a period of 14 years, on as many as six occasions attempts were made to kill Gandhiji. The last one— by Godse on January 30, 1948— was successful.

The remaining five were made in 1934, in the months of July and September 1944, September 1946 and 20th January 1948. Godse, it may be recalled, was involved in two of these previous attempts.

Ten days before the assassination a botched attempt took place on Jan 20, 1948. On that occasion, the conspirators detonated explosives in a wall at the New Delhi house with a view to drawing people away from Gandhi, but stopped short of tossing a grenade.

Cold-blooded

Tragedy struck on January 30, 1948 at the prayer meeting at Birla House when Nathuram Godse unleashed his Beretta M1934 semi-automatic pistol in .380 ACP calibre, bearing serial number 606824 on the seventy-nine-year-old apostle of non-violence. 

The pistol was purchased from Gwalior with the help of Narayan D Apte and Dattatreya S Parchure. Nathuram Godse, 37, was the bachelor editor of two Marathi language newspapers in Poona.

Godse was the editor and the co-accused Apte was the manager of the ‘Hindu Rashtra Prakashan’ which brought out the ‘Agrani’. At that stage Veer Savarkar chipped in by advancing a sum of Rs 15,000 to fund the paper.

Godse and Apte often travelled together with Sarvarkar on official tours. The last such trip took place five months before the assassination of Gandhiji. Gandhiji was exterminated as he was perceived as being ‘harmful’ to India.
After the heinous deed, Godse raised his hand holding the gun and called for the police. He was apprehended without resistance.

Justifications...

The killer of Gandhiji and his apologists sought to justify the assassination on the following arguments:
Gandhiji supported the idea of a separate state for Muslims. In a sense he was responsible for the creation of Pakistan.

In spite of the Pakistani aggression in Kashmir, Gandhiji fasted to arm twist the government of India to release an amount of Rs 55 crores due to Pakistan.

The belligerence of Muslims was a result of Gandhiji's policy of appeasement. Scrutinised in the light of the recorded history, Tushar Gandhi proves that these arguments were only clever distortions/concoctions to misguide the gullible.

Godse was a child of ‘extremist’ thinking. Perhaps one can say that the assassination of Gandhiji was the culmination of decades of systematic brain-washing.

Godse’s trial was conducted in a special court at New Delhi's Red Fort from May 27, 1948 to February 10, 1949 when he was sentenced by the single judge to be hanged until dead under Section 302 0f the Indian Penal Code.

Gopal Godse brother of Nathuram opined that, “we had done away with somebody who was not only satisfied with the creation of Pakistan; he wanted to see Pakistan progress; he was in fact the father of Pakistan.”
He further went on to say, “Gandhi used to systematically fool people, so we killed him.” Nathuram Godse was sentenced to death for the killing and hanged on Nov 15, 1949.

Another conspirator— Narayan Apte, found by the court to have been the mastermind of the plot, was hanged beside him. Four men, including Gopal Godse, were sentenced to life in prison.

His appeal to the Punjab high court was heard by three judges in May and June 1949. Later his death sentence was confirmed. He did not plead for mercy and prohibited others from doing so on his behalf.

Besides chronicling the conspiracy surrounding Gandhiji’s assassination, the author also locates the important events and developments surrounding the freedom movement.

With Gandhiji’s assassination the history of India had changed and the world would no longer be the same. After the failed attempt on his life on January 20, 1948 Gandhiji had said, “by the grace of God I have escaped from the jaws of death several 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…. I will not die just yet. I aim to live till the age of 125”. But that was not to be. Fate willed otherwise.

The book is a useful addition to the growing corpus of knowledge on the subject. Tushar Gandhi’s book not only shatters many of the mindsets and stereotypes surrounding the assassination, but also provides rare insights into the tragic episode.

Title of the Book:  LET’S KILL GANDHI: A CHRONICLE OF HIS LAST DAYS, THE      CONSPIRACY, MURDER, INVESTIGATION AND TRIAL
Author: TUSHAR A. GANDHI
Publisher: Rupa & Co, New Delhi