Mahatma Gandhi's Assassination

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948. Godsewas accompanied by Narayan Apte. Both were hanged. The two travelled from Bombayto Delhi via Gwalior to perform the murder. Some of the named conspirators inthe murder were already under police surveillance because they owned small arms.The authorities therefore must have been aware of the impending danger. DespiteIndia’s independence the administration remained under British control, run byofficers in key posts appointed by the British, with Lord Mountbatten asGovernor-General and General Boucher as the Army Commander in Chief. TotalBritish control becomes evident from the Mountbatten Papers in which HomeMinister Sardar Patel is quoted repeatedly complaining to Lord Mountbatten thatthe police and army were abetting the communal riots. Clearly the Sardar waspowerless.

After the assassination, a leading freedom fighter alleged that the HomeMinistry was criminally negligent by allowing the murder to occur. The leaderblamed the government and Sardar Patel for allowing the murder to happen. Thatleader was Jaya Prakash Narayan.

On June 3 1947 the Congress Working Committee passed the resolution acceptingthe Partition of India. There was communal tension but no communal riots tospeak of in Punjab. Gandhi observed maun vrat (day of silence) on thatoccasion. He was reportedly isolated by Nehru and Patel and was unhappy.Mountbatten visited him and said he hoped that Gandhi would not oppose thePartition under the Mountbatten Plan. Mountbatten also noted that he wassurprised that Gandhi should have observed his day of silence on such a crucialoccasion. Gandhi wrote on a scrap of paper his reply: "Have I ever opposedyou?" Mountbatten preserved that paper as historical evidence and it is stillthere in the Mountbatten papers.

But as India became independent on August 15, 1947 Gandhi became increasinglyunhappy. He was sidelined by Nehru and Patel who moved about in ministerialflagged cars. Gandhi was a marginalized figure. The riots that escalated afterIndependence brought about the biggest transfer of populations in recordedhistory. Inder Gujral’s father and Bhimsen Sachar, who opted to stay on inPakistan, along with millions of Hindus, were forced to flee to India. Anestimated million people were slaughtered in the engineered riots while thepolice and army stood aside. Over ten million were rendered homeless as theyfled their homes to uncharted territory to become refugees. 

Gandhi became restive and realized his blunder in compromising. He started plansto undo his mistake. The intelligence that kept watch on all activities in BirlaHouse, where Gandhi stayed, was aware of his unhappiness. That is whyMountbatten met Gandhi and advised him not to oppose the Partition. By doing sohe would harm the future of Nehru and Patel who were his creations anddisciples. But Gandhi persevered with his plans. He gathered 50 Punjabi refugeefamilies, most of them housed in Delhi’s Purana Quila camp, and finalizedplans to travel to Lahore and settle down there to create peace and harmonybetween India and Pakistan. Gandhi had already written to Jinnah about hisdesire to settle down in Pakistan. Jinnah said Gandhi was most welcome andinvited him to come to Karachi. But Gandhi decided to travel by road to Lahoreand settle down there. Plans were finalized for Gandhi and the fifty families tostart their journey to Lahore on February 14, 1948. Exactly one fortnight beforethat, Godse assassinated Gandhi.

Did Gandhi suspect he would be killed? On the day he was killed he finalised hislast will and testament by which he recommended that the Congress Party shouldbe dissolved and converted into a social organization named the Lok Sevak Sangh.Had Gandhi carried out his plan he would have been a nuisance for Mountbatten,Nehru and Patel because he would have worked for Indo-Pakistan reconciliation.He had already been totally marginalized in the Congress thanks to his erstwhileloyalists, Nehru and Patel. But the same Gandhi after death became the globalbrand image for the Congress Party. Surprisingly there is little or no mentionby historians of Gandhi’s plans to settle down in Lahore. Why? Because hisassassination aborted the plan?

For some strange reason Godse’s trial was held in camera. Godse’s defencewas not allowed to be publicised by the Indian government. It was whisked awayto Britain. One British weekly published it. Years later it was available tothose who searched for it. It is now available on the Internet. The demands fortruth about Netaji Subhash Bose are still resonating. Should not the truth aboutGandhi’s assassination also be reappraised? Godse’s legal defence, whichcounters several allegations of the prosecution regarding the assassination,could provide a starting point.