Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi occurred on 30th January, 1948, and was masterminded by Nathuram Godse who had fired at the Father of the Nation from a point-blank range, thrice. During the time of his murder, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was standing near a building, where a prayer meeting was scheduled to take place soon, flanked by his followers and family members. There had been five attempts to assassinate Gandhi before his eventual death, the first of which was in the year 1934. After failing to target Gandhi at Birla House, Narayan Apte and Nathuram Godse hatched a plan to kill the political leader after returning to Pune, via Mumbai. Godse had reached Delhi on 29th January, 1948, and it was then that he conspired against Gandhiji.
Gandhi was approached by Nathuram Godse at 5.17 pm, on 30th January, 1948, when it was nearly the time for the pre-scheduled evening prayers. A supporter of Gandhi named Abha Chattyopadhyay tried to prevent Godse from accomplishing his mission of killing Gandhi by telling him that Bapu ji was already late, which was in vain. Godse was successful in putting an end to Mahatma Gandhi with three gunshots, pointed to his chest, with the aide of his pistol Beretta M 1934. Gandhi expired immediately and his murderer surrendered to the police instantly.
Final Words of Mahatma Gandhi
According to the First Information Report or the FIR, the final words of Gandhi were `Hey... Ram`, which means `Oh God`, when translated to English language, Lord Rama being one of the Hindu Gods. However, the reason why he was not taken to the hospital and was ushered to the Birla House lies unexplained till date. There is a slight debate about the last words of Mahatma Gandhi, and as per the account of Nathuram Godse, Gandhi was just able to utter the expression `uhhh`.
Trial and Justice for Assassination of Gandhi
The people who were involved in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi were promptly arrested and tried in trial which achieved plenty of media coverage. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was amongst some of the powerful men who were also arrested Finally, the accused were taken to Shimla where they were tried, by the Punjab High Court. Lack of proper evidence led to the acquittal of Damodar Savarkar from the murder case while Narayan Apte and Nathuram Godse were sentenced to death by the hanging. Gopal Godse was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Aftermath of Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi
Soon after the brutal assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, violence took control of Pune, which was the native town of Godse, and it sparked widespread unrest in several portions of the country. After it was proved that Chitapavan Brahmins were responsible for the death of Gandhi, the Maharashtrian Brahmin community was severely criticised and targeted.
Previous Attempts to Assassinate Gandhi
During 25th June, 1934, Mahatma Gandhi was accompanied by his wife Kasturba Gandhi and they were about to deliver speech at Corporation Auditorium in Pune. The car in which they were travelling was slightly late and the second car which was travelling along with them was targeted by a bomb attack, wherein seven people, two police officers and the Chief Officer of Pune Municipal Corporation were seriously wounded. No arrests were made. During May 1944, after Gandhi started suffering from malaria, he was sent to Panchgani on the advise of a doctor, from Aga Khan Prison, where he resided at Dilkush Bungalow. About 15 to 21 young men led by Godse reached there when they learnt of Gandhi`s arrival. Suddenly, Nathuram Godse marched towards Gandhi with a dagger, screaming slogans against the leader. However, he was unable to kill him as he was stopped by the owner of the lodge and also D.Bhilare of Satara. The Kapur Commission was established to probe into the matter but it finally dropped the case.
When Gandhi was leaving for Mumbai to participate with discussions with Mohammad Ali Jinnah in September 1944, from his Sevagram Ashram, he was obstructed by some Hindu activists. They wanted him to stop his visit to Mumbai, but were prevented by his supporters. A dagger was discovered with their leader, Nathuram Godse. Another attempt was plotted to kill Gandhi by Narayan Apte, Gopal Godse, Nathuram Godse, Shankar Kistaiya, Madanlal Pahwa, Vishnu Karkare on 20th January, 1948, in Birla Bhavan in Delhi. Madanlal Pahwa tried to enter Birla Bhawan by bribing Choturam, the driver at the venue who did not permit him to do so as he was suspicious. Pretending to return to his own cab, Pahwa put a cotton ball, over a bomb on the wall behind the podium. Finally, he ignited it and the bomb had blasted, without killing anybody. During interrogation Madanlal Pahwa admitted that the real plan to explode the bomb quite close to Birla Bhawan while meanwhile Gandhi would be shot in the head, just to increase the panic.
