We all know Nathuram Godse as the killer of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. But what more do we know about the man who casually?shot THE MAN who carried out the mighty task of ousting the British from India?
The killing wasn't an overnight plan, it apparently took 14 long years which culminated on the fateful day of January 30, 1948.
Nathuram Godse went on to become the most hated man in India. It was exactly 59 years ago from today that this man was hanged?for depriving the nation of its father figure.?
Why did he kill one of the most prominent figures of India's freedom struggle? How did he plan it and with whom? We shall meet all the answers if we dig deeper into Godse's?life.?
Nathuram Godse's was born into?a middle-class Chitpavan Brahmin family. The?Chitpavanans?basically are either the ones handling the permanent heritage of the Aryans or the?Jewish people from Egypt who later converted into Brahmins.
His father, who worked in the Indian postal service, had married a 10-year-old girl. Among the three kids that the couple had, only their second girl child survived. Disturbed by the loss of their infants, they consulted an astrologer. The astrologer advised that there was a curse?that's causing the trouble and the only way to combat it is to raise the next child, be it a boy, like a girl.?
The couple's next child was Nathuram Godse. And as advised by the astrologer, his parents got his nose pierced?and made him wear a nath?to nullify the curse. And that's how, he got his name Nathuram.?
For the most part of his childhood and teenage years, Nathuram was bullied by his peers for wearing a nose ring. Some perceived him to be foolish while some thought that he was possessed with some divine power.
Nathuram wasn't a particularly brilliant student and couldn't even pass the matriculation. Later, he came to Ratnagiri where he met Savarkar. It was then that Nathuram got influenced with his ideas and entered the world of political fundamentalism.
Godse was also a part of the rally supporting the of rights of Hindus in Hyderabad. After spending a year in jail, he decided to go Poona. By then, his activism had increased in the Hindu Mahasabha. Savarkar decided to make a whole new national party consisting only the?Marathi Brahmin community.?
1940 was an important year for Godse as it was the year when he met?Narayana D. Apte who went on to become his friend for life.
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In 1942, all the important congress members were arrested. Savarkar took advantage of the opportune moment and launched a party with an ideology akin to that of the Hindu Mahasabha.?Godse and Apte joined this party in no time.?
Besides giving them martial arts training, an understanding of Savarkar's philosophy and teaching intolerance and fundamentalism, they were also given the task of disturbing congress meetings, targeting?congressmen and most importantly- devise a plan to kill Mahatma Gandhi. Godse and Apte were the lead here.?
The year 1944 saw the emergence of a newspaper named 'Agrini.' With Nathuram as the editor and Apte as the publisher, Savarkar started the newspaper with an initial fund of Rs 15 thousand. It came into existence to promote Apte's ideology of Hindu Mahasabha and Hindu Rashtra Dal. The first issue of the leading newspaper came out with Savarkar's picture printed on it.? But, the condition of the newspaper worsened because it also violated the Press Act of the Bombay Provincial government. Nathuram blamed Congress for the same.
The paper was renamed as 'Hindu Nation' right after the government order to ban it. But when the investors stopped investing, Nathuram's and Apate's job got in danger.?It was then when they recalled their ultimate aim, "to kill Mahatma Gandhi."
Armed with Hitler's army man's pistol, a Beretta, at 5 o'clock 17 minutes he shot Gandhi from a distance of 2.5 feet. Godse heinous was criticized world over.?
Godse was put on trial at the Punjab High Court, at Peterhoff, Shimla. On 8 November 1949, he was sentenced to death. On November 15, 1959, Godse was hanged till death?at Ambala Jail.??