Nathuram Godse: Difference between revisions

{{Use Indian English|date=April 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

|name     = Nathuram Vinayak Godse

|image     = Nathuram godse.jpg

|alt     = Nathuram Godse

|caption   = Godse at his trial for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi

|birth_name   = Ramachandra Vinayak Godse

|birth_date   = {{birth date|1910|5|19|df=yes}}

|birth_place = [[Baramati]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British India]]

|death_date   = {{death date and age|1949|11|15|1910|5|19|df=yes}}

|death_place = [[Ambala]] Prison, [[East Punjab]], [[Dominion of India|India]]

|death_cause = Execution by [[hanging]]

|organization = [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]]<br />[[Hindu Mahasabha]]

|criminal_charge= Murder ([[assassination of Mahatma Gandhi]])

|criminal_penalty= Death by hanging

| module =

{{Infobox writer

'''Nathuram Vinayak Godse''' (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) was the assassin of [[Mahatma Gandhi]], who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at [[Point-blank range|point blank range]] in [[New Delhi]] on 30 January 1948.<ref name="frontline1">{{cite news|last1=Noorani|first1=A.G.|title=The BJP and Nathuram Godse|url=http://www.frontline.in/books/the-bjp-and-nathuram-godse/article4328688.ece|access-date=4 July 2017|publisher=Frontline|date=8 February 2013}}</ref> Godse, a [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] from [[Pune]], who believed Gandhi to have favoured the political demands of India's Muslims during the [[partition of India]], plotted the assassination with [[Narayan Apte]] and six others. After a trial that lasted over a year, Godse was sentenced to death on 8 November 1949. Although pleas for [[commutation (law)|commutation]] were made by Gandhi's two sons, [[Manilal Gandhi]] and [[Ramdas Gandhi]], they were turned down by India's prime minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], deputy prime minister [[Vallabhbhai Patel]], and the Governor-General [[C. Rajagopalachari]].<ref name=godse-commutation/> Godse was hanged in the Ambala Central Jail on 15 November 1949.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009"/>

Godse dropped out of high school and became an activist with Hindu nationalist organisations [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (National Volunteer Organisation) and [[Hindu Mahasabha]], although the exact dates of his membership are uncertain.<ref>''The Hindu'' (18 August 2004). [http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/18/stories/2004081805151100.htm] "RSS releases 'proof' of its innocence". Retrieved 26 June 2007</ref><ref name="RSSRefutal">IANS, [http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/rss-denies-godse-was-its-member-rebuts-cong-claim_677631.html RSS denies Godse was its member, rebuts Cong claim], ''Zee News'', 30 December 2010</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jha |first1=Dhirendra K. |title=The Apostle of Hate |url=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/historical-record-expose-lie-godse-left-rss |website=The Caravan |publisher=Delhi Press |access-date=8 January 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/nathuram-godse-never-left-rss-says-his-family/articleshow/54159375.cms|title=Nathuram Godse never left RSS, says his family|first=Vasudha|last=Venugopal|date=8 September 2016|via=The Economic Times}}</ref> 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."

At 17:17 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.<ref name=bbc-stimpson/> Gandhi fell immediately, sending the attendant crowd into a state of shock.<ref name=bbc-stimpson>{{citation|last1=Pronko|first1=N. H.|last2=Bowles|first2=J. W.|title=Empirical Foundations Of Psychology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfaAAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA343|year=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-32708-7|page=343}}</ref> [[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.<ref name="bbc-stimpson"/><ref>{{citation|date=May 26, 2000|last=Obituary, May 26|title=Herbert Reiner Jr.; Captured Gandhi's killer|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2000/may/26/local/me-34297|access-date=January 27, 2017}}</ref> Reiner then held Godse by the neck and shoulders until he was taken away by the military and police.<ref>{{citation|date=21 May 2000|last=Obituary, May 21|title=Herbert Reiner Jr., Diplomat, 83; Captured Gandhi's killer in 1948|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Trumbull|first=Robert|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 31, 1948|title=Gandhi is killed by a Hindu; India shaken; World mourns; 15 die in rioting in Bombay|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0130.html#article}}</ref> 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.<ref name=stratton>{{citation|last=Stratton|first=Roy Olin|title=SACO, the Rice Paddy Navy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oTFNAQAAMAAJ|year=1950|publisher=C. S. Palmer Publishing Company|pages=40–42}}</ref> Gandhi was taken back to his room in [[Birla House]], where he died soon thereafter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEL20060206033504 |title=Controversy over "Hey Ram" |access-date=2013-10-09 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201073017/http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEL20060206033504 |archive-date=1 February 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Godse was put on trial at the [[Punjab High Court]], at [[Peterhoff, Shimla]]. On 8 November 1949, he was sentenced to death. Although pleas for commutation were made by Gandhi's two sons, [[Manilal Gandhi]] and [[Ramdas Gandhi]], they were turned down by India's prime minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], deputy prime minister [[Vallabhbhai Patel]] and the Governor-General [[Chakravarti Rajagopalachari]],<ref name=godse-commutation>{{citation|last=Gandhi|first=Rajmohan|title=Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FauJL7LKXmkC&pg=PA660|year=2006|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25570-8|page=660}}</ref> and Godse was hanged at Ambala Jail on 15 November 1949.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2009">{{citation|last=Bandyopadhyay|first=Sekhar|title=Decolonization in South Asia: Meanings of Freedom in Post-independence West Bengal, 1947–52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Qd5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|year=2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-01824-6|page=146}}</ref>

==Further reading==

* [[Koenraad Elst|Elst, Koenraad]], ''Gandhi and Godse&nbsp;– a Review and a Critique'', Voice of India, 2001. {{ISBN|81-85990-71-9}}

* Godse, Nathuram, ''Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi'', Surya Bharti, Delhi, India, 2003. {{OCLC|33991989}}

* Phadke, Y.D., ''Nathuramayan''

* Pradeep Dalvi's, "[[Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy]]" narrations by Robby Raju Pathak

[[Category:People from Pune]]

[[Category:Indian assassins]]

[[Category:Executed assassins]]

[[Category:Hindu Mahasabha members]]