by Bal Patil
It is indeed astonishing that even after a lapse of sixty years there should still be ambivalence about the cold-blooded killing of the greatest human being of our times of whom Einstein said: “"Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this, ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." Rather, it would be unsustainable and totally presumptious to raise an issue that there can be two views of the cold and calculated conspiracy which led to the assassination of the Father of the Nation by die hard fundamentalists nurtured by the RSS.
It is indeed astonishing that even after a lapse of sixty years there should still be ambivalence about the cold-blooded killing of the greatest human being of our times of whom Einstein said: “"Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this, ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." Rather, it would be unsustainable and totally presumptious to raise an issue that there can be two views of the cold and calculated conspiracy which led to the assassination of the Father of the Nation by die hard fundamentalists nurtured by the RSS.
The deep RSS hatred for the Congress nationalist struggle which led to the partition and independence of India culminated in the assassination of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. There has been long a strong suspicion right from the assassination that the RSS cadres had infiltrated in various administrative departments. As Pyarelal, Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi, notes in Mahatma Gandhi: the Last Phase (1958) describing the antecedents of the conspiracy to murder the Mahatma over the lack of security despite the bomb incident on 20th January 1948:
Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by one Nathuram Godse, member of the Hindu Mahasabha and formerly associated with the RSS. A ban was imposed on the outfit subsequent to the deed.
In a letter to the RSS chief, Golwalkar, on the ban on the RSS following Gandhiji’s assassination, Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel, India’s first union home minister, clearly acknowledged the complicity of the RSS in the Gandhi assassination.
If the deleterious rot of the RSS ideology was so deep at the dawn of freedom one cannot simply imagine its hydra-headed extent today and its cancerous damage to the body politic. I remember as a lad of sixteen, distinctly the pyromania that prevailed in the RSS stronghold at Pune and Sangli (Maharashtra State) by the enraged mobs against the Brahmin community on learning about the identity of Nathuram Godse. At Jaysingpur near Sangli a mob set on fire a stationery shop of one Jain RSS Shakha Chalak-Monitor of RSS branch- who after garlanding a photo of Dr.Hedgewar-founder of the RSS- and breaking the photo of the Mahatma distributed sweets. When the furious mob attacked him he sought refuge before the writer’s father who happened to be a Civil Judge & Magistrate. A Gandhian by temperament he pacified the violent mob and refrained from firing. Such was the writer’s earliest brush with the quintessential RSS ideology and its demonic manifestations in the Hindutva fundamentalism which renders constitutional secular ideal meaningless.
Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by one Nathuram Godse, member of the Hindu Mahasabha and formerly associated with the RSS. A ban was imposed on the outfit subsequent to the deed.
In a letter to the RSS chief, Golwalkar, on the ban on the RSS following Gandhiji’s assassination, Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel, India’s first union home minister, clearly acknowledged the complicity of the RSS in the Gandhi assassination.
If the deleterious rot of the RSS ideology was so deep at the dawn of freedom one cannot simply imagine its hydra-headed extent today and its cancerous damage to the body politic. I remember as a lad of sixteen, distinctly the pyromania that prevailed in the RSS stronghold at Pune and Sangli (Maharashtra State) by the enraged mobs against the Brahmin community on learning about the identity of Nathuram Godse. At Jaysingpur near Sangli a mob set on fire a stationery shop of one Jain RSS Shakha Chalak-Monitor of RSS branch- who after garlanding a photo of Dr.Hedgewar-founder of the RSS- and breaking the photo of the Mahatma distributed sweets. When the furious mob attacked him he sought refuge before the writer’s father who happened to be a Civil Judge & Magistrate. A Gandhian by temperament he pacified the violent mob and refrained from firing. Such was the writer’s earliest brush with the quintessential RSS ideology and its demonic manifestations in the Hindutva fundamentalism which renders constitutional secular ideal meaningless.
Inspiration for the RSS cadres and their paramilitary training was derived from Benito Mussolini’s fascist paramilitary groups, the Blackshirts, after RSS mentor and founder, BS Moonje visited the Italian dictator in 1931. As detailed in Marzia Casolari’s article, "Hindutva’s foreign tie-up in the 1930s: Archival evidence" (Economic and Political Weekly, January 22, 2000):
"To understand militant Hinduism, one must examine its domestic roots as well as foreign influence. In the 1930s Hindu nationalism borrowed from European fascism to transform ‘different’ people into ‘enemies’. Leaders of militant Hinduism repeatedly expressed their admiration for authoritarian leaders such as Mussolini and Hitler and for the fascist model of society. This influence continues to the present day. This paper presents archival evidence on the would-be collaborators."
"To understand militant Hinduism, one must examine its domestic roots as well as foreign influence. In the 1930s Hindu nationalism borrowed from European fascism to transform ‘different’ people into ‘enemies’. Leaders of militant Hinduism repeatedly expressed their admiration for authoritarian leaders such as Mussolini and Hitler and for the fascist model of society. This influence continues to the present day. This paper presents archival evidence on the would-be collaborators."
All the available evidence strongly suggests that the Government failed to protect Gandhiji when it could have done so. The stock excuse provided Government for inadequately security measures is that Government did not like persons attending prayer meetings to be scared.
But this excuse is untenable. It should have been perfect possible to apply security measure without Gandhiji’s knowledge. In fact, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that if the security measures adopted to protect other leaders at that time had been applied to Gandhiji the murder could never have taken place.
This is one of the points stressed in a recent book published in Lisbon entitled “Who Killed Gandhi?” by Lourenco de Salvador who is a Goanese by birth and has settled in Portugal. He claims to have been a life-long follower of Gandhiji. The book was printed privately and has been reviewed in a recent issue of the Times Literary Supplement. It is unlikely that the book will find entry in India.
The author admits that ‘the murder (quoted from the above review-not in the author’s words) came as a great shock to everyone but the fanatics: the grief of the Congress leaders was sincere and genuine.. but he (de Salvador) sticks to the point that it need never have happened.
The review also says that “there were certain aspects of the trial of Godse which de Salvador thinks partook of the nature of a cover-up exercise, and he masters evidence for the view that some important testimony was not made public.”
Even Jawaharlal Nehru said in Parliament: “And today the fact that this mighty person whom we honoured and loved beyond measure, had gone because we could not give adequate protection is a shame for all of us..”
But this excuse is untenable. It should have been perfect possible to apply security measure without Gandhiji’s knowledge. In fact, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that if the security measures adopted to protect other leaders at that time had been applied to Gandhiji the murder could never have taken place.
This is one of the points stressed in a recent book published in Lisbon entitled “Who Killed Gandhi?” by Lourenco de Salvador who is a Goanese by birth and has settled in Portugal. He claims to have been a life-long follower of Gandhiji. The book was printed privately and has been reviewed in a recent issue of the Times Literary Supplement. It is unlikely that the book will find entry in India.
The author admits that ‘the murder (quoted from the above review-not in the author’s words) came as a great shock to everyone but the fanatics: the grief of the Congress leaders was sincere and genuine.. but he (de Salvador) sticks to the point that it need never have happened.
The review also says that “there were certain aspects of the trial of Godse which de Salvador thinks partook of the nature of a cover-up exercise, and he masters evidence for the view that some important testimony was not made public.”
Even Jawaharlal Nehru said in Parliament: “And today the fact that this mighty person whom we honoured and loved beyond measure, had gone because we could not give adequate protection is a shame for all of us..”
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