Godse, Nathuram Vinayak
(1911–1949), assassin of Mohandas Gandhi. Nathuram Vinayak Godse, perhaps the most notorious assassin of the twentieth century, was the Hindu fanatic who shot Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi dead on 30 January 1948 in Delhi. He was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a political faction angered at what it saw as Gandhi's pandering to the Muslims of India and his "emasculation of the Hindu community" through a long-standing policy of nonviolence (ahimsa). With the end of British rule, this radical faction wanted Hindu Raj, a chauvinistic Hindu government.
In that time of extreme tension between Muslims and Hindus on the subcontinent, a Muslim's attempt on the saintly Gandhi's life would have ignited a bloodbath even greater than the one that had marked the splitting of Pakistan from India. But Godse was, like Gandhi, a Hindu, albeit a militant extremist anda Brahmin. He was editor of two magazines published in Pune by the Hindu Mahasabha, another political organization. The immediate cause of Godse's anger was Gandhi's embarking on yet another fast to protest the communal violence that was tearing India apart. A fellow conspirator, Madan Lal, had failed to kill Gandhi the previous day with a bomb explosion. But Godse shot Gandhi at point-blank range after bowing to him, while Gandhi was on the way to evening prayers. Godse was tried, defended himself eloquently, and was sentenced, with his associate Narayan Apte, to execution and was hanged on 15 November 1949.
Godse (front row, left) and codefendants at their trial. (BETTMANN/CORBIS)Further Reading
Pyarelal. (1965) Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase. 2d ed. Weare, NH: Greenleaf.
This is the complete article, containing 263 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
