Page | 1 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Gandhi’s Assassination - Godse and RSS Connection

An E-Digest

Compiled by Ram Puniyani

(For Private Circulation)

Center for Study of Society and Secularism 602 & 603, New Silver Star, Behind BEST Bus Depot, Santacruz (E), Mumbai: - 400 055.

E-mail: csss2work@gmail.com, www.csss-isla.com

Page | 2 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Contents

Page No.

Preface 03

1. RSS and Gandhi Murder 04 by A.G. Noorani

(Table: Sardar Patel’s Correspondence)

2. RSS and the Gandhi Murder 15 by Badri Raina 3. No discussion on who killed Mahatma Gandhi is complete without addressing idea of a Hindu Rashtra 18

by Teesta Setalvad

4. Who Killed Gandhi? 22 by Tushar A Gandhi

5. RSS & Murder of Mahatma Gandhi: What do contemporary documents tell? 24 by Shamsul Islam 6. The First Terrorist of Independent India 25 by Subhash Gatade 7. Gandhi Murder and Role RSS: Debate Continues 32

by Ram Puniyani

8. Gandhi, RSS and Godse 34 by L.S. Hardenia Book Review 9. Preserving the truth behind Gandhi’s Murder 39 by Hari Narayan

10. Savarkar and Hindutva 41

by A.G. Noorani

Page | 3 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Preface

Murder of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was also the first major attack of Hindu

nationalism on Indian Nationalism. The murderer of Gandhi, Godse was deeply

steeped in the ideology of Hindu nationalism, he grew up in RSS and later also

started working for Hindu Mahasabha. In a way he was a unique blend of both the

streams of Hindu Nationalism, Hindu Mahasabha and RSS.

The Hindu nationalist RSS has always claimed that they have nothing to do with

Godse etc. to hide Godse’s association with RSS. In response to Rahul Gandhi’s

statement about Godse and RSS, RSS people have filed cases against Rahul Gandhi

bringing to fore the debate about Gandhi murder, Godse and his connection with

RSS.

This small compilation in the form of E Digest has picked up few pertinent articles

on this theme to apprise activists and those interested in knowing the truth behind

the same.

I am grateful to authors whose articles have been reproduced here.

Ram Puniyani Centre for Study of Society and Secularism

Mumbai

Page | 4 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

1. RSS & Gandhi’s murder By A.G. Noorani

There is enough historical evidence to nail the RSS’ lie that Nathuram Godse was not a member of that organisation when he assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

On Saturday, September 10, I was invited to lunch at a dear friend’s home. Present were his sister and brother-in-law. On seeing me she told me, in disbelief and mild shock, that some flunkey of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) had claimed on the TV that I had apologised for asserting that the RSS had killed Gandhi. I was, momentarily, taken aback. I had never tendered any apology to this disreputable and utterly despicable body, orally or in writing. Indeed, no person of any intelligence would make such an assertion either, however deep his loathing for the RSS—like this writer’s. The reason is simple. Whether it is a registered society or a company, it is still an organisation and acts, necessarily, through its members or officials.

To deny that the RSS killed Gandhi is, therefore, to raise an Aunt Sully for the sheer pleasure of knocking her down. No one alleges that any such resolution was passed by the RSS’ Kendriya Karyakari Mandal at a meeting in its cavern in Nagpur, or that Godse had acted on its behalf. What is alleged is that he was a member of the RSS and shared its ideas. What is relevant is that he fully shared his organisation’s outlook on hate and violence and this is what drove him to commit that ghastly crime. The RSS cannot escape blame, as Vallabhbhai Patel pointed out to Syama Prasad Mookerjee. An organisation whose member commits a crime incurs odium. What could be the fons et origo, the origin, of the slander? My mind went back to an unfortunate

Page | 5 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

episode 15 years ago when I wrote a weekly column from 1992 to 2000 for The Statesman, which was edited by a dear friend, Cushrow R. Irani, who had bravely stood up to Indira Gandhi’s authoritarian regime during the Emergency. He was generous; be it in regard to space or content.

Sadly, around 2000, our friendship came under a strain. We disagreed on a couple of things; especially on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). We communicated less. I agreed to go to Kolkata to participate in a debate held under the auspices of the paper, on September 16, 2000, only in order to clear the air over my writings on Kashmir. He politely brushed aside my anxieties on the growing differences. The RSS had filed a case of defamation in New Delhi in respect of an article I had written; rather, in respect of a cartoon that was published as an illustration [to the article]. Irani referred to the RSS’ case defiantly in his speech on that occasion in the presence of Sushma Swaraj and a friend, Salman Haidar. His resolve to fight it out was impressive.

It was most unfortunate that my effort at a candid talk did not succeed. In the last week of December that year, I received a letter from him informing me that my review of a book on Kashmir would not be published and in future I should contribute reviews only of books that

were sent to me and of none other. In all those nearly nine years I had freely reviewed books which publishers had sent to me directly, including foreign publishers. I was hurt and offended and wrote back instantly to say that I would not be writing for The Statesman after all. It was a hasty and ungracious response. Irani was

naturally most offended and hurt, too; quite rightly so. The friendship suffered.

I mention this personal episode, unusually, because it has a bearing on the case that was filed and its conclusion. To begin with, I was roped in despite the fact that there was not a word in my article on Gandhi’s murder, let alone the RSS’ responsibility for that crime. There are fortunately two documents of unimpeachable credibility on the two crucial points, namely, my article and Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse’s membership of the RSS.

The first is a letter by one Suresh Bajpayee, secretary, RSS, which was published in The Statesman as early as on January 25, 2000, almost exactly a year before I was obliged to appear before a magistrate in one of the Tis Hazari Courts in New Delhi. It read thus: “We have seen with pain and anguish the cartoon published on the editorial page of your paper in the issue of 15-16 January along with the article ‘RSS and Services-II’. It shows a person wearing shorts, white shirt with folded sleeves and wearing a cap firing from a pistol on Mahatma Gandhi. On the back of the assassin have been written the words ‘RSS’. The Mahatma is seen fallen on the ground with blood flowing from his chest. The author of this cartoon is some Debabrata. Thus, the cartoon clearly tells the reader that it was the RSS organisation which murdered Mahatma Gandhi. We are sure that you are aware of the basic facts of the matter which are contrary to what has been shown in the cartoon.” The next nine long paragraphs were devoted to establishing the RSS’ innocence.

Page | 6 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Three features deserve note. First, there was no reference to me at all or even a mention of the writer of the article. Secondly, the subject of the article was not Gandhi’s murder but the ban on the recruitment of members of the RSS, besides those of bodies like the Jamaat-e-Islami, to public services. The Gujarat government headed by Narendra Modi sought to lift the ban with the encouragement of his then patron L.K. Advani, Union Home Minister. Lastly, the entire grievance ventilated in this letter was in respect of the cartoon alone. The cartoonist’s name was mentioned.

What, then, was I supposed to apologise for? A statement I had not made? Yet, some months later, a criminal complaint was filed against Irani, as Editor, Printer, and Publisher, the cartoonist and, incredibly, against me, as the writer of the article.

When the case first came up for hearing in January 2001, I was under handicaps more than one. My relations with Irani, though not severed, were strained. I did not know a single member of the Bar practising in those courts and I would be obliged repeatedly to fly from Mumbai to New Delhi at my own expense. Since Irani, judging by his speech on September 16, 2000, seemed set on fighting out the case, I readily accepted his offer of joint appearance through an advocate of his choice. I was obliged to go to Delhi once to seek exemption from personal appearance, which the court readily granted. To ask for a discharge on the ground that no offence was disclosed against me at all was to break ranks and incur unpleasantness. Especially since Irani was committed to fighting out the case.

Queries about the progress of the case later elicited vague answers in reassurance and, finally, the information that it was all over, hinting at a settlement. My requests for its terms were ignored. To this day I do not know what those terms were and whether the advocate who

represented us all was instructed to apologise for all of us orally in court or whether there was a written apology agreed to by Irani; if so, it was not shown to me, nor, of course, the terms of the statement in court. If it was an apology, my consent and approval were not sought at all. I was not party to any settlement that might have been reached between C.R. Irani and the RSS. He never mentioned any apology.

I could not possibly have concurred in any apology. Only a few days earlier, my book The RSS and the BJP had been launched; on December 6, 2000, by Jyoti Basu in New Delhi. It had a whole chapter (4) on “The RSS and Gandhi”. It was published by LeftWord. In 2002, after the case got over in 2001, LeftWord published my book Savarkar and Hindutva: The Godse Connection. Its chapter 5, on Gandhi’s murder, sets out the entire evidence on Nathuram Godse and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the RSS and BJP’s ideologue, and refutes the claim that Godse had left the RSS.

Since then, I have missed no opportunity to nail the Sangh Parivar’s lies; to cite a few: 1. On September 28, 2005, in Chennai, I spoke at the Asian College of Journalism on Savarkar’s complicity. The discussion was moderated by N. Ram, then Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu. 2. In an article in Hindustan Times of March 4, 2003, I reverted at length to the theme of attacking the decision to put up Savarkar’s portrait in Parliament House opposite that of Gandhi. 3. In an article in The Hindu of January 30, 2013, entitled “How Savarkar escaped the gallows”, I dealt at length with his culpability for the crime.

Thus, for over a decade and a half, I have consistently, unflinchingly written on the nexus between Savarkar and Godse and also Godse’s membership and loyalty to the RSS without anyone in its media wing challenging my credentials. I shall continue to do so as long as I am alive.

Page | 7 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Gopal Godse’s testimony

This brings me to the second document. It is an interview given by the assassin Nathuram Godse’s brother, Gopal Godse, also an accused in the case, to Arvind Rajagopal. It was with reference to the BJP president L.K. Advani’s statement on November 21, 1993, that Godse was “a bitter critic” of the RSS and “we have had nothing to do with Godse” (The Times of India, November 22, 1993).

This is what his brother Gopal Godse had to say of Advani and of Nathuram’s membership of the RSS. The questions and answers are set out:

“Q. Were you a part of the RSS?

A. All the brothers were in the RSS. Nathuram, Dattatreya, myself and Govind. You can say we grew up in the RSS rather than in our homes. It was like a family to us.

Q. Nathuram stayed in the RSS? He did not leave it?

A. Nathuram had become a baudhik karyavah (intellectual worker) in the RSS. He said in his statement that he left the RSS. He said it because Golwalkar and the RSS were in a lot of trouble after the murder of Gandhi. But he did not leave the RSS.

Q. Advani has recently said that Nathuram had nothing to do with RSS.

A. I have countered him, saying it is cowardice to say that. You can say that RSS did not pass a resolution, saying that, ‘go and assassinate Gandhi.’ But you do not disown him [Nathuram]. The Hindu Mahasabha did not disown him. In 1944 Nathuram started doing Hindu Mahasabha work when he had been a baudhik karyavah in the RSS” (Frontline, January 28, 1994).

Let me now proceed to revert to the entire subject “with added enthusiasm” and nail the RSS’ lies to the counter. The evidence may be considered under five heads—the RSS’ addiction to hate, laced with venom; its use of violence; the relationship between the Hindu Mahasabha, led by V.D. Savarkar, and the RSS, and, relatedly, between Godse and Savarkar, coupled with his membership of the RSS; the BJP; and lastly, the exposures at the Gandhi murder trial.

1. Dislike is not uncommon among political adversaries; hatred is rare. The RSS’ hatred is laced with venom. Its supremo M.S. Golwalkar’s book Bunch of Thoughts (1966) reeks of venomous hate towards Muslims, Christians, and Communists (Chapter 12); and towards Gandhi: “Those who declared ‘No swaraj without Hindu-Muslim unity’ have thus perpetrated the greatest treason on our society. They have committed the most heinous sin of killing the life-spirit of a great and ancient people. To preach impotency to a society which gave rise to a Shivaji who, in the words of the great historian Jadunath Sarkar, ‘proved to the whole world that the Hindu has drunk the elixir of immortality’, and to break the self-confident and proud spirit of such a great and virile society has no parallel in the history of the world for sheer magnitude of its betrayal.…

“This leadership only came as a bitter climax of the despicable tribe of so many of our ancestors who during the past twelve hundred years sold their national honour and freedom to foreigners, and joined hands with the inveterate enemies of our country and our religion in cutting the throats of their own kith and kin to gratify their personal egoism, selfishness and rivalry. No wonder nemesis overtook such a people in the form of such a self-destructive leadership.” The reference to “nemesis” is significant.

Savarkar shared this poison. On May 14, 1944, he said: “The Hindu Sangathanists should not contribute a single pie to the Congressite

Page | 8 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Kasturba (Gandhi) Fund (Historic Statements, page 109).

Conspiracy and the hunt for Golwalkar

2. Violence. Rajeshwar Dayal, who became Foreign Secretary, was Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh in 1947. He testified: “I must record an episode of a very grave nature when the procrastination and indecision of the U.P. Cabinet led to dire consequences. When communal tension was still at fever-pitch, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police of the Western Range, a very seasoned and capable officer, B.B.L. Jaitley, arrived at my house in great secrecy. He was accompanied by two of his officers who brought with them two large steel trunks securely locked. When the trunks were opened, they revealed incontrovertible evidence of a dastardly conspiracy to create a communal holocaust throughout the western districts of the province. The trunks were crammed with blueprints of great accuracy and professionalism of every town and village in the vast area, prominently marking out the Muslim localities and habitations. There were also detailed instructions regarding access to the various locations, and other matters which amply revealed their sinister purport.

“Greatly alarmed by those revelations, I immediately took the police party to the Premier’s house (G.B. Pant). There, in a closed room, Jaitley gave a full report of his discovery, backed by all the evidence contained in the steel trunks. Timely raids conducted on the premises of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) had brought the massive conspiracy to light. The whole plot had been concerted under the direction and supervision of the Supremo of the organisation himself. Both Jaitley and I pressed for the immediate arrest of the prime accused, Shri Golwalkar, who was still in the area.

“Pantji could not but accept the evidence of his eyes and ears and expressed deep concern. But

instead of agreeing to the immediate arrest of the ring leader as we had hoped, and as Kidwai would have done, he asked for the matter to be placed for consideration by Cabinet at its next meeting. It was no doubt a matter of political delicacy as the roots of the RSS had gone deep into the body politic. There were also other political compulsions as RSS sympathisers, both covert and overt, were to be found in the Congress party itself and even in the Cabinet. It was no secret that the presiding officer of the Upper House, Atma Govind Kher, was himself an adherent and his sons were openly members of the RSS.…

“Golwalkar, however, had been tipped off and he was nowhere to be found in the area. He was tracked down southwards but he managed to elude the couriers in pursuit. This in fructuous chase continued from place to place and weeks passed. Came January 30, 1948, when the Mahatma, that supreme apostle of peace, fell to a bullet fired by an RSS fanatic. The whole tragic episode left me sick at heart” (A Life of our Times, 1998, pages 93-94; emphasis added).

The Home Minister, Vallabhbhai Patel, wrote to the Mahasabhaite in the Cabinet, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who founded the Jan Sangh in 1951, in these terms: “As regards the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha, the case relating to Gandhiji’s murder is sub judice and I should not like to say anything about the participation of the two organisations, but our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former (i.e. the RSS), an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became possible. There is no doubt in my mind that the extreme section of the Hindu Mahasabha was involved in this conspiracy. The activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of Government and the State. Our reports show that those activities, despite the ban, have not died down. Indeed, as time has marched on, the RSS circles are becoming more defiant and are indulging in their

Page | 9 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

subversive activities in an increasing measure” (Sardar Patel’s Correspondence, Volume 6, page 323). Thus, the RSS created the atmosphere Patel described in which the crime was committed.

3. Nathuram Godse as member of the RSS. His brother Gopal Godse’s testimony is conclusive. As for the Mahasabha, Nathuram Godse was besotted with Savarkar. Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre’s book Freedom at Midnight was based on police records. They record that he took to “a new kind of secular shrine, the headquarters of the RSS” (page 365). The RSS and the Mahasabha had at times lovers’ quarrels. In September 1932, the Mahasabha said that it “appreciates the efforts of Dr. Hedgewar for starting a strong organisation of Hindus named Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Central Provinces and Berar (whose capital was Nagpur) and other places and recommends that its branches be established in all Provinces so that it may be an Akhil Bharatiya Organisation” (History of the Hindu Mahasabha, page 199; an appendix has a laudatory note on the RSS on page 425).

In a letter to Savarkar, Nathuram Godse wrote: “It is a fact generally accepted that if there is to be a Hindu Sangathan not only in Maharashtra but in the whole of India, it would be systematically brought about by one, and the only powerful institution, that is the RSS” (K.L. Gauba, Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, 1969, pages 83-84; the letter was an exhibit in the trial. The book is based on the trial records).

4. The BJP’s rejection of Gandhi. For some time, the BJP echoed its predecessor, the Jana Sangh, and their mentor, the RSS’ disdain for Gandhi. In the mid-1990s, when the capture of power at the Centre was in sight, it did a volte face. On October 5, 1997, the RSS mouthpiece Organiser published an advertisement by a Delhi publisher for six “Readable Attractive New Books”; two of them were by Gopal Godse: Qutab Minar is Vishnu Dhwaja and Gandhiji’s Murder and After. The

third book advertised was May it Please Your Honour, the assassin’s statement in court. Another was by the judge who ordered the locks of the gates to the Babri Masjid opened on February 1, 1986, in flagrant breach of the law. Organiser is hardly likely to accept advertisements for books critical of the RSS.

Two decades after the assassination, on January 11, 1970, Organiser, then edited by K.R. Malkani, could remember Gandhi only in these terms in its editorial: “It was in support of Nehru’s pro-Pakistan stand that Gandhiji went on fast and, in the process, turned the people’s wrath on himself.” So, Nathuram Godse represented “the people”, and the murder he perpetrated was an expression of “the people’s wrath”. In 1961, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya said: “With all respect for Gandhiji, let us cease to call him ‘Father of the Nation’. If we understand the old basis of nationalism, then it will be clear that it is nothing but Hinduism.”

The Times of India editorially noted on October 17, 1989: “Mr. Advani, while holding forth on ‘Bharat Mata’, now goes so far as to deny that Mahatma Gandhi was the Father of the Nation.” None should be surprised at a photograph showing the RSS supremo, M.S. Golwalkar, sharing, in Pune in 1952, a platform with V.D. Savarkar, who had narrowly escaped conviction in the Gandhi murder case.

In a complete volte face, Sushma Swaraj, the BJP’s general secretary belatedly declared on October 17, 1997: “Mahatma Gandhi is not the monopoly of the Congress Party.” There was a spate of false claims of loyalty to the Mahatma, which I exposed in detail in my book The RSS and The BJP (pages 81-83).

A lawyer’s letter

5. At the trial. Godse did his best to deny proximity to Savarkar to protect him while

Page | 10 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Savarkar virtually disowned him. An able advocate, P.L. Inamdar, himself a devotee of Savarkar, secured the acquittal of his client, D.S. Parchure. His book reveals his disenchantment with Savarkar as well as his surprise at Savarkar’s acquittal for reasons he does not conceal from the reader (The Story of the Red Fort Trial 1948-49, Popular Prakashan, 1979, pages 141, 143 and 147). I quote it in extenso as it sheds light on Savarkar’s character and his “innocence”. The book has received little notice.

Inamdar writes:

“During the whole of the trial, I never saw Savarkar turning his head towards even Nathuram, who used to sit by him, in fact next to him, much less speak with him. While the other accused freely talked to each other exchanging notes or banter, Savarkar sat there sphinx-like in silence, completely ignoring his co-accused in the dock, in an unerringly disciplined manner. He did not talk to me in court during the whole of the trial except once. He had, I thought, perhaps resolved to act in court, his defense against the charge of conspiracy with Nathuram or with any one of the accused and, in fact, to perform his role demonstratively, even with respect to the counsels of the other accused!

“During the various talks I had with Nathuram, he told me that he was deeply hurt by this—Tatyarao’s [Savarkar’s] calculated, demonstrative non-association with him either in court or in the Red Fort jail during all the days of the Red Fort trial. How Nathuram yearned for a touch of Tatyarao’s hand, a word of sympathy, or at least a look of compassion in the secluded confines of the cells! Nathuram referred to his hurt feelings in this regard even during my last meeting with him at the Simla High Court!....

“Savarkar had prepared a written statement in defense of his case replete with appendices of newspaper cuttings and he read out the

statement in the court with all the gimmicks of an orator bemoaning his fate of being charged with the murder of Mahatmaji by the independent Indian Government, when he had admired and eulogised the personality of the Mahatmaji so sincerely and so often. Savarkar actually wiped his cheeks in court while reading this part of his oration….

“Savarkar claimed that he was wholly innocent of the crime! I am alive to the stage of his career at which Savarkar then was. But believe me, Savarkar was very nervous and was getting more and more agitated as the trial progressed. In the second week of September 1948, I received word from our senior, Bhopatkar, to say that Savarkar wanted to see me and that he had sought the permission of the court, allowing me to visit the jail for that purpose. I was a little surprised and moreover nervous to have to tread on the path of my seniors, but my vanity took over and I consented to go to the jail and see Savarkar. I saw Savarkar on or about the second Saturday in September 1948 in the Red Fort jail. …After a few words of explanation as to why he had called me, and warding off my humble protest for being called upon to interfere in the work of my seniors, he said, ‘I have very much liked your terse and correct expression. …I want your opinion and assistance. I hope you do not mind.’

“‘Oh! It will be my proud privilege,’ I said, and we proceeded to discuss the case against him in particular and also in general. I found him well posted with the details of the case against him; they were very few. He talked about them in thoroughly learned and elaborate legal jargon using such expressions as hearsay evidence of the first degree, second degree, etc. All that I had to do was, either express my approval of the line of argument, or suggest a few variations, which he made a note of. He repeatedly asked me if he would be acquitted and wanted me to assure him sincerely. What I noted was that he did not ask me a single question about the case against my

Page | 11 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

clients, Dr. Parchure and Gopal Godse or about any of the other accused including Nathuram, nor any question about me personally. I spent nearly three hours with him.…

“I do not remember even today, when and how Judge Atma Charan read out the operative portion of the order of acquittal of Savarkar! All I remember even today is that I had tried to look hard at Atma Charan, asking myself if he was the same Atma Charan who had one day said to me: ‘Believe me, I shall do full justice to the case which you have so ably put up!’ I angrily told myself, ‘Yes, this is Atma Charan’s answer to the last paragraph of the summing up of the case!’”

Disbelief, even anger, at Savarkar’s acquittal is as apparent as it is justified. Inamdar knew a lot.

Inamdar, himself a committed Mahasabhaite ideologically, knew the truth. He had no hesitation in asserting that “Nathuram was a staunch RSS man” (page 25). He writes of “the avowed RSS leaders from Poona, Nathuram Godse and Apte” (page 108). This reference was part of his argument at the trial. He knew how very close Nathuram Godse was to Savarkar. Such a major operation would not have, however, been undertaken without the supremo’s blessings.

Approver Badge’s version

The sole witness against Savarkar was Digambar Badge, who had turned approver. On January 14, 1948, moments after they met that day in Bombay, Apte, Godse and Badge went to Savarkar Sadan. “Apte asked me to wait outside. Apte and Godse went inside. They came back 5-10 minutes later. Apte asked me if I was prepared to go with them to Delhi. I asked him as to what was the work at Delhi. Apte told me that Tatyarao had decided that Gandhiji, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Suhrawardy should be ‘finished’ and had entrusted that work to them. He further told me

that for that purpose I should accompany them to Delhi.” Badge returned to Bombay on January 17 and met Godse and Apte.

“We got down from the taxi, and walked down to the house of Savarkar. Shankar was asked to wait outside the compound of Savarkar Sadan. Apte, Godse and I entered the compound of that house. Apte asked me to wait in the room on the ground floor. Nathuram Godse and Apte then went up. They came down after 5-10 minutes. Godse and Apte as they came down the stairs were followed immediately by Tatyarao. Tatyarao said be successful and come. The exact words used were ‘Yashasvi houn ya’. Tatyarao had addressed these words to Apte and Godse. We four then got into the taxi and proceeded towards the Ruia College. Apte said in the taxi that Tatyarao had predicted that Gandhiji’s hundred years were over. Apte further said that there was no doubt that our work would be successfully finished. The exact words used were ‘Tatyaravani ase bhavishya kale ahew ki Gandhijichi sambhar varshe bharali—ata apale kam nishchita honor yat kahi sanshya nahi.’”

The judge noted: “The examination and the cross-examination of the approver went on from 20.7.1948 till 30.7.1948. He was cross-examined for nearly seven days. There was thus an ample opportunity to observe his demeanour and the manner of his giving evidence. He gave his version of the facts in a direct and straightforward manner. He did not evade cross-examination or attempt to evade or fence with any question. It would not have been possible for anyone to have given evidence so unfalteringly stretching over such a long period and with such particularity in regard to the facts which had never taken place. It is difficult to conceive of anyone memorising so long and so detailed a story if altogether without foundation.”

Badge was accepted as a truthful witness. But the law required that an approver’s evidence must be

Page | 12 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

independently corroborated. He was the sole witness. That corroboration came later before a former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Jivan Lal Kapoor, in 1966 when a Commission of Inquiry was constituted and he was asked to inquire into all the aspects of the conspiracy. Two aides of Savarkar deposed before him—Appa Ramchandra Kasar, his bodyguard, and Gajanan Vishnu Damle, his secretary. Both confirmed Badge’s account of Savarkar’s meetings with Godse and Apte.

Justice Kapur observed: “The statements of both these witnesses show that both Apte and Godse were frequent visitors of Savarkar at Bombay and at conferences and at every meeting they are shown to have been with Savarkar. …All this shows that people who were subsequently involved in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi were all congregating sometime or the other at Savarkar Sadan and sometimes had long interviews with Savarkar…. Apte and Godse visited him both before the bomb was thrown and also before the murder was committed and on each occasion they had long interviews.”

Had they but testified in court, Savarkar would have been convicted. There was none of the ambiguity surrounding Godse and Apte’s visits to Savarkar on January 14 and 17, 1948. Appa Ramchandra Kasar told the Kapur Commission that they visited him also on or about January 23 or 24 when they returned from Delhi after the bomb incident. Gajanan Vishnu Damle deposed that Godse and Apte saw Savarkar “in the middle of January and sat with him [Savarkar] in his garden”.

Justice Kapur concluded: “All these facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group”.

Justice Kapur found that “many RSS members were members of the Hindu Mahasabha”. One of his conclusions: “(4)(a) The RSS was the best

organised and militant Hindu organisation in India and although it was not affiliated to the Hindu Mahasabha, its prominent organisers and workers were members of the Hindu Mahasabha ideology.”

Behind the ban on RSS

Why was the RSS banned if it was pure as driven snow —and banned by Patel? The reasons were set out in a communiqué on February 4, 1948, soon after Gandhi’s assassination on January 30. It said: “Undesirable and even dangerous activities have been carried on by members of the Sangh. It has been found that in several parts of the country individual members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity, and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunitions. They have been found circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and the military. These activities have been carried on under a cloak of secrecy, and the government has considered from time to time how far these activities rendered it incumbent on them to deal with the Sangh in its corporate capacity.

“It was then unanimously agreed in November 1947 that the stage when the Sangh should be dealt with as an association had not yet arrived and that individuals should continue to be dealt with sternly as hitherto. The objectionable and harmful activities of the Sangh have, however, continued unabated and the cult of violence sponsored and inspired by the activities of the Sangh has claimed many victims. The latest and the most precious to fall was Gandhiji himself.

“In these circumstances it is the bounden duty of the government to take effective measures to curb this reappearance of violence in a virulent form and as a first step to this end, they have

Page | 13 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

decided to declare the Sangh as an unlawful association.” Gandhi’s murder forced the government to deal with the RSS “in its corporate capacity”.

On February 14 and 15, 1948, the Mahasabha’s working committee said: “It was a matter of shame and humiliation that the alleged assassin

was connected with the Hindu Mahasabha” and “unequivocally condemned this foul act”.

Since Godse was very much a member of the RSS, as his own brother testified, will the RSS follow the Mahasabha’s example and hang its head in shame?

****

Letter- Sardar Vallabhai Patel to RSS Chief Guru Golwalkar – 1948 #Godse #mustread

Sabrang Archives (1999)

‘RSS has never backed Godse: The Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh consistently lashes out at some “vested political interests” for taking recourse to lie and calumny to malign “patriotic and nationalist” organisations.” Commenting on an advertisement highlighting a quote allegedly of RSS chief Rajendra Singh, general secretary H.V.Seshadri said, “The RSS has never supported the act of Nathuram Godse.” (1999). A similar discourse is audible today.

The fascist agenda of the RSS has always justified the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Enclosed is the entire text of a letter written by none less than Sardar Vallabhai Patel, independent India’s first union home minister commenting on RSS activities following Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. The

entire text is invaluable. He says clearly, “The RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s death.”

Sardar Vallabhai Patel, union home minister, to Guru Golwalkar, RSS chief in a letter written on September 11, 1948. The letter is quoted in full in Desraj Goel’s Rahstriya Swayamsevak Sangh.The entire Text :

Aurangzeb Road, New Delhi,

11th Sept. 1948

Brother Sri Golwalkar,

Received your letter dated 11th August. Jawaharlal has also sent me your letter of the same date.

You are very well aware of my views on the RSS. I have expressed these thoughts at Jaipur in December last month at Lucknow in January. The people had welcomed

Page | 14 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

those views. I had hoped that your people also would accept them. But they appear to have no effect on the RSS persons, nor was there any change in their programmes. There can be no doubt that the RSS did service to the Hindu Society. In the areas where there was the need for help and organisation, the young men of the RSS protected women and children and strove much for their sake. No person of understanding could have a word of objection regarding that. But the objectionable part arose when they, burning with revenge, began attacking Mussalmans. Organising Hindus and helping them is one thing but going in for revenge for its sufferings on innocent and helpless men, women and children is quite another thing.

Apart from this, their opposition to the Congress, that too of such virulence, disregarding all considerations of personality, decency or decorum, created a kind of unrest among the people. All their speeches were full communal poison. It was not necessary to spread poison and enthuse the Hindus and organise for their protection. As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the valuable life of Gandhiji. Even an iota of sympathy of the Government or of the people no more remained for the RSS. In fact the opposition grew. Opposition turned more severe, when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s death. Under these conditions it became inevitable for the Government to take action against the RSS.

Since then, over six months have elapsed. We have hoped that after this lapse of time, with full and proper consideration the RSS persons would come to the right path. But from the reports that come to me, it is evident that attempts to put fresh life into their same old activities are afoot. I once again ask you to give your thought to my Jaipur and Lucknow speeches and accept the path I had indicated for the RSS. I am quite certain that therein lies the good of the RSS and the country and moving in that path we can join hands in achieving the welfare of our country. Of course, you are aware that we are passing through delicate times. It is the duty of everyone from the highest to the lowliest in this country to contribute his mite, in whatever way possible, to the service of the country. In this delicate hour there is no place for party conflicts and old quarrels. I thoroughly convinced that the RSS men can carry on their patriotic endeavor only by joining the Congress and not by keeping separate or by opposing. I am glad that you have been released. I hope that you will arrive at the proper decision after due consideration of what I have said above. With regard to restrictions imposed upon you I am in correspondence with the CP Government. I shall let you know after receiving their reply.

Yours

(SD.) VALLABH BHAI PATEL

(Rendered from the original in Hindi)*

Justice on Trial: Historic Document of Guruji-Government Correspondence, pp. 26-8;

Page | 15 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

N.B. This letter also, incidentally, clarifies the misunderstanding created that the Sardar had invited them to join the Congress; the invitation is for rethinking and change of heart and then giving it a concrete shape by merger into the Congress. The same thing JP tried to accomplish later and failed.

Another quote from Sardar Patel:

“As regards the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha… our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former (RSS) an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became possible.”

Sardar Vallabhai Patel, union home minister to Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who later founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, in a letter on July 18, 1948. Sardar Patel Correspondence, Volume 6, edited by Durga Das.

2. RSS And The Gandhi Murder

By Badri Raina ONE repetitive cliché of ‘centrist’ opinion is that Left-wingers and Right-wingers are, at bottom, blood brothers. Although this is a subject for detailed scrutiny, just two points may quickly be made, since these relate intimately to the concerns of the present article. One, that whereas Left-wing politics seeks consistently to expand and enrich democracy, Right-wing politics invariably seeks to restrict the grounds of legitimacy. Secondly, and one speaks here of the modern Indian experience, whereas Indian revolutionaries have always owned up to their deeds, Indian fascists, led by the RSS, have invariably taken recourse to subterfuge and denial in matters wherein their role brings them widespread disgrace. Of the latter, the circumstances of Bapu’s murder provide the most telling instance. The denial of the RSS here is particularly mean, being often a suitably calibrated one.

NATHURAM GODSE’S RSS CONNECTIONS

Not even in this day and age does the RSS deny that Gandhi was not one of its favourite people. As to Nathuram Godse its denial of his membership of the RSS was staunch till Curran (1950-51) revealed that fact in his otherwise sympathetic book; this despite the fact that Godse had himself said in his trial that “I have worked for several years in the RSS.” The current posture of the RSS is that Godse had given up his membership long before the Gandhi murder. The point is, where are the records? What we do know is from Gopal Godse, Nathuram’s co-convicted brother. Speaking of his brothers’ last moments before the hanging, Gopal Godse avers: on reaching the platform he cited a verse of devotion to the Motherland; the verse in question was as follows:

Page | 16 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Namaste sadaa vatsale matribhume

Tvya hindubhume sukhamvardite hum, Mahamangle puney bhume tvdharthe

Patitvesh kaayaa namaste namaste. Des Raj Goyal, a one-time swayamsevak, tells us in his book, RSS (1979) that the above comprises the opening verse of the RSS prayer sung in every shakha. Goyal then provides two all-important facts bearing on this prayer: one, that “outsiders are not acquainted with it”; and, two, that at the time of Godse’s acknowledged membership of the RSS (1930-34) “this prayer was not sung even in the RSS” and that “the Sanskrit prayer, of which this verse forms a part, was adopted only in 1940” (Goyal, 142). How then did Nathuram recite the above prayer as a sort of epitaph to his despicable life? In fact, the clinching evidence of Nathuram’s membership of the RSS has also come from Gopal Godse, his brother in his book Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi (1993) wherein he says unambiguously: “He (Nathuram) has said in his statement that he left the RSS. He said it because Golwalker and the RSS were in a lot of trouble after the murder of Gandhi. But he did not leave the RSS.” In the same book he also characterises Advani’s denial of Nathuram’s membership of the RSS at the time of the murder as “cowardice.” Consider the further detail supplied by Pyarelal in his biography of the Mahatma (The Last Phase, 756): “A letter which Sardar Patel received after the assassination from a young man, who according to his own statement had been gulled into joining the RSS organisation but was later disillusioned, described how members of the RSS at some places had been instructed beforehand to tune in their radio sets on the fateful Friday for the ‘good news.’ After the news sweets were distributed in RSS circles at several places, including Delhi.”

Obvious question: if the RSS had nothing to do with the event of that evil Friday how does one explain what is said in the cited letter? CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE If all that is not ‘evidence’ what were the circumstances of the moment? The RSS relies heavily on Patel’s letter of February 27, 1948 in which he intimates Nehru that the RSS was not involved; rather, it was an extremist wing of the Hindu Mahasabha. But what did Patel have to say to two other people—S P Mukerjee and “Brother Sri Golwalker”? To the former he wrote (letter dated. July 18,’1948): “As regards the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha, the case relating to Gandhi Ji’s murder is sub judice and I should not like to say anything about the participation of the two organisations, but our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former, an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became possible….The activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of government and the state….Indeed, as time has marched on, the RSS circles are becoming more defiant and are indulging in their subversive activities in an increasing measure.” In writing to “Brother Sri Golwalker” on Sept 11,’1948 Patel, while acknowledging that “the RSS did service to the Hindu Society,” laments that the “objectionable part arose when they. . . began attacking Mussalmans” (referring to RSS workers). More explicitly: “All their speeches were full of communal poison. . . As a result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji…In fact opposition (to the RSS) grew. . . when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s death.”

Page | 17 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

GODSE/SAVARKAR CONNECTION What of the Godse/Savarkar connection? First, let us recall what Curran tells us—that Savarkar did not leave the RSS because he thought it was deviating from the mainlines of Hindu/fascist ideology; Curran writes of Hedgewar’s tour in Maharashtra in 1932: “One of his advisers on this tour was Nathuram Godse…Godse had joined the RSS in 1930 winning prominence as a speaker and organiser; he left the Sangh in 1934 because Hedgewar refused to make the RSS a political organisation”(Curran, Militant Hinduism, 18-19). Making too much of the separation between the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS, therefore, can only be a technical nicety. In fact we know that Savarkar’s brother, Babu Rao Savarkar, had merged his Tarun Hindu Mahasabha with the RSS. Enough is known about Savarkar’s role in the murder. Digambar Badge, the approver in the trial of 1949 (Red Fort) before Justice Atma Charan, was to refer to the meeting at Savarkar’s home on January 17, ’1948 where the latter was to say to the conspirators “Yashasvi houn ya” ergo “Be successful and come back.” And the Justice Jivan Lal Kapur Commission which revisited the Gandhi murder in 1966, although again obliged to exonerate Savarkar for want of corroborative evidence in support of the approver’s confession, was, like Galileo at the stake, obliged nonetheless to remark that the facts taken together were “destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group”(which included Godse). And when Patel refers to the role of the “fanatical wing of the Hindu Mahsabha” in his letter to Nehru (February 27,’1948) without mentioning Savarkar, we know what he was talking about. The point is, look where you will and the differentiations sought to be made between the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS in the context of the Gandhi murder are no more than self-serving sleights-of-hand. Gandhi’s elimination was clearly perceived as a ‘nationalist’ requirement by the combined

Hindu/Fascist camp. The bone of contention between this camp and the Congress movement led by Gandhi comprised conceptualising the defining features of Independent India. The Mahasabha/RSS view was nowhere more identical than in this. One only has to read how Savarkar (1938, Nagpur session) and Golwalker (in We, Our Nationhood Defined, 1938) spoke to this issue. Savarkar: “The original political sin, which our Hindu Congressites. . . committed at the beginning of the Indian National Congress movement and are persistingly committing still of running after the mirage of a territorial Indian Nation and of seeking to kill. . . the life growth of an organic Hindu Nation. . . . We Hindus are a Nation by ourselves because religious, racial, cultural, and historical affinities bind us intimately into a homogenous nation”. Golwalker: “The idea was spread that for the first time the people were going to live a national life, the Nation in the land naturally was composed of all those who happened to reside therein and that all these people were to unite on a common ‘National’ platform and win back ‘freedom’ by ‘Constitutional means.’ Wrong notions of democracy strengthened the view and we began to class ourselves with our old invaders and foes under the outlandish name—Indian—and tried to win them over to join hands with us in our struggle. The result of this poison is well known….with our own hands are undermining true Nationality.” Again: “All those not belonging to the national, i.e., Hindu race, religion, culture and language, naturally fall out of the pale of real ‘National’ life. We repeat: in Hindusthan, the land of the Hindus, lives and should live the Hindu Nation—satisfying all the five essential requirements of the scientific nation concept of the modern world.” Thus all the way from Savarkar, through Golwalker, Deoras and the current day ‘cultural nationalists’ the Nation is conceived of not as a bounded territory but as a racial/religious construct. Gandhi’s fault it was that he said any ‘swaraj will be incomplete without Hindu-Muslim unity.” He paid the price.

****

Page | 18 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

3. No discussion on who killed Mahatma Gandhi is complete without addressing idea of a Hindu Rashtra

By Teesta Setalvad

Jul 28, 2016

Scroll did a disservice by being carelessly selective in its recent article, says the activist lawyer.

The murder of Mahatma Gandhi, or more dramatically put, the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi was the first act of terror committed in independent India, as I wrote in the introduction to the volume, Beyond Doubt-A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination (2015, Tulika). It was also, I wrote; a declaration of war and a statement of intent.

It was a declaration of war by a section of society which remained largely on the fringes during the independence struggle and was committed to religion-based nationhood, and wanted India to become a Hindu rashtra. This was a section that bore visceral dislike toward the idea of composite

culture and inclusive nationhood advocated by the Mahatma.

It is this ideology that unashamedly rules India today.

Any discussion on the assassination, therefore, needs to address the issues around the killing, the motives of the assassins. It should also examine further why Gandhi and what he stood for posed such a dire threat to the worldview of the killers.

Whenever the murder is discussed, and the factors responsible for the killing tossed around, public memory can often become carelessly selective, unwarrantedly perhaps spawning a

Page | 19 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

dangerous ambivalence. I refer here specifically to the July 21 article that deliberately or otherwise skips crucial bits of the event. There are also several inaccuracies in the report that has carelessly quoted from earlier published articles.

Setting the record straight

There is need to set the record straight. The killing of Gandhi was not an isolated act but the last successful one of a series of attempts that began as early as 1934. Since the first attack on June 25 1934, there had been a total of five attempts on Gandhi’s life: in July and September 1944, September 1946, and January 20, 1948, ten days before he was actually shot dead.

Nathuram Godse was involved in two of the previous attempts besides the last one – that is, in a total of three, completely upsetting the comfortable narrative of Godse’s actions not being pre-meditated and coldly and carefully planned.

This aspect is completely missing from the article that fails to ask (while superficially relying on a sinister justification for the killing that Godse’s belief that “Gandhi helped create Pakistan” was the reason behind the killing) why some groups of persons found Gandhi and his beliefs so thoroughly repugnant that they had to eliminate him.

It was Gandhi’s commitment to composite nationhood as opposed to a religion-based state (Pakistan or Hindu Rashtra) and his support for the law against untouchability (he made a historic speech in the Central legislature in 1935) that made him enemy No 1 for all those who dreamt then – and conspire even today – to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra.

One of the crucial reasons for editing the volume Beyond Doubt was to bring to readers in

English the seminal work of senior journalist and writer Jagan Phadnis who researched the killing back in 1998 as also the important contribution of Chunibhai Vaidya from Gujarat. These works along with historian YD Phadke’s analysis of the Kapoor Commission Report published in Communalism Combat are crucial reading for serious readers on the subject, and are included in the volume.

That the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was banned by the government of India within two days of the assassination, through a Government Resolution dated February 2, 1948, is surely a critical part of the narrative, which is absent in its recounting 68 years later. The language of this resolution, reproduced in Beyond Doubt, is unequivocal when it speaks of the determination of the government of India

“to root out the forces of hate and violence that are at work in our country and imperil the freedom of the Nation and darken her fair name. In pursuance of this politics [the GR says] the GOI has decided to declare as unlawful the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the Chief Commissioner’s Provinces. Similar action is also being taken in the Governor’s provinces.”

The banning of the RSS within five months of India becoming independent and within two days of the dastardly killing of Mahatma Gandhi has been linked to the ‘undesirable and even dangerous activities carried out by individual members of the Sangh who have indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunition. They have been found, “circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and the military….The objectionable and harmful activities of the Sangh have, however, continued unabated and the cult of

Page | 20 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

violence sponsored and inspired by the activities of the Sangh has claimed many victims. The latest and the most precious to fall was Gandhiji himself.” The GR was first published in the August 2004 issue of Communalism Combat, as part of the cover story, titled Hey Ram.

Ban and lifting the ban

The story does not end here. The communications between the Government of India through then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Home Minister Vallabhai Patel with the RSS also show up the falsehoods perpetrated by the Sangh, which has tried to distort even this part of history.

On September 11, 1948, the famous letter written by Patel to RSS chief MS Golwalkar strongly decries the systematic hate tactics of the Sangh before and after Gandhi’s assassination. This letter has been quoted in full in Desraj Goyal’s Rahstriya Swayamsevak Sangh (First published in 1979, Revised edition in 2000, Radhakrishna Prakashan Pvt Ltd, New Delhi).

More importantly, this and another letter written by Patel to the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee dated July 18, 1948 make clear the links between the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha.

The September 11, 1948 letter is of particular significance as it outlines the kind of activities the RSS was observed to indulge in.

“But the objectionable part arose when they, burning with revenge, began attacking Mussalmans. Organising Hindus and helping them is one thing but going in for revenge for its sufferings on innocent and helpless men, women and children is quite another thing……..All their speeches were full communal poison. It was not necessary to spread poison and enthuse the Hindus and organise for their protection. As a

final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the valuable life of Gandhiji. Even an iota of sympathy of the Government or of the people no more remained for the RSS. In fact the opposition grew. Opposition turned more severe, when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s death. Under these conditions it became inevitable for the Government to take action against the RSS.”

A government of India press note of November 14, 1948 relates to the outright rejection of a representation by Golwalkar to lift the ban on the RSS by the Home Ministry, refers to the "anti-national, often subversive and violent activities of the RSS”.

This press note, also obtained from the archives of the government of India, was first published in the August 2004 issue of Communalism Combat, as part of the cover story, titled Hey Ram.

The government of India took into account the considered opinion of provincial governments before arriving at its decision to ban the RSS. An article of The Indian Express dated February 7, 1948 reports that an RSS leader from Nagpur who had presented Godse with the revolver with which he killed Gandhi had been arrested. Other persons arrested included Professor Varahadpande of the City College, Nagpur.

This news report states that another professor of Nagpur had told his students a day before the assassination that “Gandhiji would be murdered”. An associate of the gang of conspirators, Devendra Kumar, was reported by the same newspaper to have surrendered to the District Magistrate, Mirzapur and taken to Lucknow under armed escort.

There is more such material which forms part of the annexes to the Kapoor Commission which will

Page | 21 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

form part of the second volume of Beyond Doubt that I am currently annotating and editing. For the record, towards the end of the judgement in the Gandhi Murder case, Special Judge Atmacharan made the following remarks in regards to the conduct of the police with relation to the bomb attack on Gandhi on January 20, barely ten days before the day he died.

“ I may bring to the notice of the Central Government the slackness of the police in the investigation of the case during the period between January 20-30,1948... Had the slightest keenness been shown in the investigation of the case at that stage, the tragedy could have been averted.”

The terms of reference to the Kapoor Commission clearly show that it was not within its ambit to investigate whether or not the RSS was involved in the murder. It would be pertinent to again quote from the Government communiqué dated 11 July, 1949 provided in Appendix IV to Desraj Goyal’sRahstriya Swayamsevak Sangh which laid down the conditions for lifting the ban on the RSS.

“The RSS leader has undertaken to make the loyalty to the Union Constitution and respect for the National Flag more explicit in the Constitution of the RSS and to provide clearly that persons believing or resorting to violent and secret methods will have no place in the Sangh..”

Among other conditions was that the RSS would function only as a cultural organisation.

Hindu rashtra

A genuine understanding of the motivations behind the ideology that killed Gandhi cannot skirt around the fundamental issue of religion-based nationhood. The contempt for the Indian Constitution is writ large in MS Golwalkar’s Bunch

of Thoughts, which is proudly available on the RSS website even today (for example, see Page 119).

Despite its assurances to the government of India, the Indian tricolour remained anathema to the Sangh for 52 years after India became independent. It was only on January 26, 2002, that the RSS hoisted the tricolour on its headquarters. Until then it was always the bhagwa dhwaj,representing the Hindu nation.

In fact, the English organ of the RSS, Organiser (dated August 14, 1947) carried a feature titled “Mystery behind the bhagwa dhawaj” which, while demanding hoisting of the saffron flag at the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi, openly denigrated the choice of the Tri-colour as the National Flag in the following words:

“The people who have come to power by the kick of fate may give in our hands the Tricolour but it never be respected and owned by Hindus. The word three is in itself an evil, and a flag having three colours will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country.”

It became even more brazen once the first RSS-driven government in New Delhi under Atal Behari Vajpayee came into power as the organisation’s mouthpiece Organiser proudly advertised the books published by Surya Bharati Prakashan, Gandhi Ji’s Murder and After by co-accused and brother of the assassin, Gopal Godse, as also May It Please Your Honour,by Nathuram Godse.

Both the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha have made money by glamourising the killer of Gandhi and claimed proud privilege for the reasons for the killing.

The crux of the issue for the Sangh and those who have opposed its supremacist ideology has always been about who has or has not the right to equal

Page | 22 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

rights and citizenship in the India of today. On this issue Gandhi and the RSS stood on the extreme opposites ends of the spectrum. Not only can no one deny this, but it is this crucial issue that remains central to the debate around which

forces were responsible for the murder of the Mahatma.

Teesta Setalvad is co-editor, Sabrangindia.

***

4. Who Killed Gandhi?

By Tushar A. Gandhi

Nathuram Godse shot Bapu thrice and killed him.

But this chronic failure was incapable of

succeeding without the support of an

organisation and its fanatic cadre. The accused

enjoyed country wide support, easy and unlimited

funds and supplies. This could not have been

possible without organisational involvement.

There were two organisations with whom all the

accused were closely associated, RSS and Hindu

Mahasabha. For some strange reason despite

clues and confessions these two organisations

were never investigated. Why? We will never

know.

Godse and Apte were known to boast and brag,

but were not known to deliver. To impress

Savarkar they used to brag about various schemes

to attack Muslims, Nizam of Hyderabad and

Muslim League. Their modus operandi was to

seek Savarkar's blessings for their schemes and

then seek finance and support from members of

RSS, Hindu Mahasabha and staunch Savarkarites.

One of the first scheme they sold was a plan to

raid revenue agencies of the Hyderabad Nizam

close to its border with the Bombay Province. For

this they collected funds, then they approached

Dixit Maharaj and asked him for one of his large

cars. Three weeks went by when no news of raids

on the Nizam were reported, Dixit Maharaj came

looking for his car, he found Apte romancing his

girl friend in the car he had borrowed for the raid.

Next the duo came up with a proposal to blow up

the Pak Assembly with a mortar. They secured

Savarkar's blessings and collected funds, but did

not deliver. When news came that two special

trains carrying weapons arms and ammunitions,

Pakistan's share, would travel to Pakistan. The

duo sold a scheme of blowing up both the trains

using bazookas. This time too, no action.

Then they decided to buy a Stengun and use it to

strafe fleeing Muslims. They abandoned it after

not being able to even cock it. The final scheme

they attempted to sell was to set up a supply

chain of arms and ammunitions to fight the

Kabalis invading Kashmir, they planned to recruit

and train young Hindu fighters to fight the Kabalis

invading Kashmir, but by now their backers had

lost faith in them.

There was a link between all the failed attempts

on Bapu's life and his murder. There were five

known attempts on Bapu's life, which failed. In

each one of them the common factor was Poona,

Page | 23 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Godse, Apte and RSS and Hindu Mahasabha

members. Accept for the last one, all happened

prior to independence and were not investigated.

The first on 25th June 1934, Poona; second July

1944, Panchgani; third September, 1944,

Sevagram; fourth, 19th June, 1946, Somewhere in

the Western Ghats between Karjat and Khandala;

and fifth on 20th January, 1948, Birla House, New

Delhi. All failed, accept in the first and fourth

where no one was caught and none were

investigated, in the three others Apte, Godse and

the participation of RSS and Hindu Mahasabha

members was reported.

What is chilling is that unlike popular perception

that Godse took advantage of an opportunity to

murdered Bapu, Bapu's murder was methodically

planned and although the attempts failed, finally

it was these preparations which helped chronic

failures, Godse and Apte, succeed.

Since 1946, after the Direct Action Day killings

and the retaliatory massacres in its wake,

whenever Bapu was in Delhi and he conducted his

public multi faith evening prayers, every time the

Aayats from the Koran were read, people would

raise up and protest. The protests turned

progressively severe and aggressive. Apte and

Godse had even boasted about carrying out one

very aggressive protest at the Sweeper's Colony,

'We sacred him off' they had boasted in Poona.

The last failed attempt and when Nathuram

eventually murdered Bapu were both at the time

of his evening prayers. The plan was to create an

impression to convey that people were angry

with Bapu for his insistence on reciting Islamic

prayers and the murder happened as an eruption

of spontaneous fury against his obduracy. Godse

and Apte did not have the capability to sustain

such a long term campaign, the RSS did.

Till two days before Bapu was murdered, Godse

did not possess a gun. Miraculously on 28th

January 1948, Godse and Apte procured one of

the best pistols of that time from Gwalior. The

most efficient, a favourite of close range killers,

fully loaded, 'Fascist Special' Beretta 9 mm Semi-

Automatic. Parchure of Gwalior, was arrested for

helping them procure the gun, he confessed

everything. But in the High Court appeal, a clever

defence lawyer got him acquitted citing a

procedural lapse in his arrest. What is shocking is

that, how Godse acquired the gun and where it

came from was never investigated. They could

not have procured the gun without the help of a

pan national organisation. RSS was a pan national

organisation with a fanatically loyal cadre who

were willing to abide by 'Aadesh', orders from

headquarters.

No courts or inquiry commissions ever absolved

RSS from involvement in the Gandhi murder, they

could not because they were not asked to pass

judgement on them.

The fact remains that although on 30th January

1948 at 5:17 pm Nathuram Godse did pump 3

bullets into Bapu's chest from point blank range

and murdered him, the loaded gun was put in his

hands by his patrons and supportive

organisations, and the Aadesh, order came from

them too.

***

Page | 24 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

5. RSS & Murder of Mahatma Gandhi: What do contemporary documents tell?

By Shamsul Islam,

The Milli Gazette Published Online: Mar 17, 2011

After the murder of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948, the RSS was banned on February 4, 1948. It was banned for anti-national activities and the government communiqué banning the RSS was self-explanatory: "In their resolution of February 2, 1948 the Government of India declared their determination to root out the forces of hate and violence that are at work in our country and imperil the freedom of the Nation and darken her fair name. In pursuance of this policy the Government of India have decided to declare unlawful the RSS." [Cited in Justice on Trial, RSS, Bangalore, 1962, p. 64.]

The communiqué went on to disclose that the ban on the RSS was imposed because, "undesirable and even dangerous activities have been carried on by members of the Sangh. It has been found that in several parts of the country individual members of the RSS have indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity, and murder and have collected illicit arms and

ammunition. They have been found circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and the military." [Ibid, pp. 65-66.]

It is well-known that the then Home Minister, Sardar Patel, had a soft-corner for the RSS and continues to be a favourite with the RSS. However even Sardar Patel found it difficult to defend the RSS in the aftermath of Gandhiji's assassination. In a letter written to the head of the RSS, Golwalkar, dated 11 September 1948, Sardar Patel stated:

"Organizing the Hindus and helping them is one thing but going in for revenge for its sufferings on innocent and helpless men, women and children is quite another thing…Apart from this, their opposition to the Congress, that too of such virulence, disregarding all considerations of personality, decency or decorum, created a kind

Page | 25 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

of unrest among the people. All their speeches were full of communal poison. It was not necessary to spread poison in order to enthuse the Hindus and organize for their protection. As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji. Even an iota of the sympathy of the Government, or of the people, no more remained for the RSS. In fact opposition grew. Opposition turned more severe, when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji's death. Under these conditions it became inevitable for the Government to take action against the RSS…Since then, over six months have elapsed. We had hoped that after this lapse of time, with full and proper consideration the RSS persons would come to the right path. But from the reports that come to me, it is evident that attempts to put fresh life into their same old activities are afoot." [Ibid, pp. 26-28.]

Hindu Mahasabha and RSS were jointly responsible for the murder of Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, this fact was further corroborated by Sardar Patel in a letter to a prominent leader of Hindu Mahasabha, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee on July 18, 1948. Sardar wrote:

"As regards the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha, the case relating to Gandhiji's murder is sub judice and I should not like to say anything about the participation of the two organizations, but our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former, an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became possible. There is no doubt in my mind that the extreme section of the Hindu Mahasabha was involved in the conspiracy.

The activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of Government and the State. Our reports show that those activities, despite the ban, have not died down. Indeed, as time has marched on, the RSS circles are becoming more defiant and are indulging in their subversive activities in an increasing measure." [Letter 64 in Sardar Patel: Select Correspondence 1945-1950, Volume 2, Navjiwan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1977, pp. 276-277.]

Prof. Shamsul Islam teaches political science in Satyawati College, Delhi University and may be reached at notoinjustice[@]gmail[.]com

This article appeared in The Milli Gazette print issue of 16-28 February 2011 on page no. 8

***

6. The First Terrorist of Independent India

By Subhash Gatade

http://www.countercurrents.org/gatade171113.htm

Countercurrents.org ,17 November, 2013 ...Government have, however, noticed with regret that in practice members of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh have not adhered to their professed ideals.

“Undesirable and even dangerous activities have been carried on by the members of the Sangh. It has been found that in several parts of the country individual members of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh have indulged in acts of

Page | 26 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunitions. They have been found circulating leaflets, exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and military.”

(The government communique of February 4, 1948, announcing the ban on RSS after Gandhi’s assassination)

On Nathuram Godse, (19th May 1910 - 15th Nov 1949) Advani asserts that Godse had “severed links with RSS in 1933… had begun to bitterly criticise the RSS”. This was flatly contradicted by none other than Godse’s brother Gopal, who was also an accused at the trial for conspiracy to murder. He published his book Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in December 1993. Speaking in New Delhi on the occasion of the release of his book, Gopal Godse revealed what many had suspected—they had both been active members of the RSS (The Statesman; December 24, 1993).

(Ref: Whitewashing Godse is part of the Sangh Parivar’s sordid game, From: Frontline, January 26, 2013)

What could be said to be the first act of terrorism in independent India?

Everybody would agree that killing of Mahatma Gandhi by a Hindu fanatic Nathuram Godse constitutes the first terrorist act in independent India. Godse, a Maharashtrian Brahmin, hailing from Pune was associated with Hindu Mahasabha at the time of Mahatma’s assassination and had his initial forays in the world of politics with the RSS. During his tour of the area Hedgewar, the first supremo of RSS, use to be accompanied by Nathuram, the future assassin of Gandhi. Godse had in fact joined the RSS in 1930, winning prominence as a speaker and organiser.

The world at large knows how the Hindu fanatics had planned the murder of the Mahatma and how the likes of Savarkar and Golwalkar, the second Supremo of RSS could be held to be responsible for creating the ambience of hate which culminated in the gruesome act. Sardar Patel’s letter to Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, who was then member Hindu Mahasabha and who later formed Bharatiya Jansangh with RSS’s support provides enough details about the background (18th July, 1948)

... our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former (the RSS), an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy (Gandhiji’s assassination) became possible. There is no doubt in my mind that the extreme section of the Hindu Mahasabha was involved in this conspiracy. The activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of government and the state. Our reports show that those activities, despite the ban, have not died down. Indeed, as time has marched on, the RSS circles are becoming more defiant and are indulging in their subversive activities in an increasing measure

If somebody poses before you another simple query relating to similar episodes in the sixty plus year trajectory of independent India - then what would be your response. Perhaps you would like to add the death of Indira Gandhi - killed by her Sikh bodyguards , killing of Rajeev Gandhi - who fell to a suicide attack by a Tamil Hindu woman, or for that matter demolition of the 500 year old Babri mosque by the marauders of the RSS-VHP-BJP-Shiv Sena. If one follows the debate further you would like to underline the 1984 riots ( actually genocide of Sikhs mainly perpetrated by Hindu lumpen elements instigated by the then ruling Congress Party with due connivance of Hindutva brigade), emergence of Khalistani terrorists movement or the eight year old Gujarat genocide executed with military precision allegedly by the RSS and its affiliated

Page | 27 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

organisations led by one of those Hindu Hriday Samrats.

Compare all these major episodes in the history of Independent india - which encompassed many a terrorist acts within them - with the mental image which conjures up in your mind or which finds prominence in the media when one listens to any terrorist act in any part of the country. Does it have any resemblance with the image of a member of the majority community or one of those minority communities ? You would agree that the mental image/projected image has features specific to one of the religious minorities in our country. If in the late eighties or early nineties it would have been the image of a turbaned Sikh, the end of first decade of the 21st century has found its replacement with a bearded Muslim.

Question naturally arises why is it that despite their participation in many a gruesome incidents, the role played by them in instigating riots (as noted by many a commissions of enquiry) or there [their]admission before camera about the planning which went in making a genocide happen (courtesy Tehelka sting operation or the interview given by Keka Shastri to rediff.com) the Hindu fanatic has not become a part of our social common sense. Why when someone called Sadhvi Pragya or Major Purohit or Dayanand Pandey or for that matter Swami Aseemanand are found to be engaged in conspiring and executing terrorist acts and police decipher their certain involvement in similar sinister operations earlier as well, we are ready to call them ‘exception’ and when a completely innocent Muslim youth is arrested by the police, the media is ready to paint him the real mastermind of few terrorist acts. Why the slogan coined by one of the majoritarian formations ‘All Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslim’ does not receive broadest possible condemnation which it deserves.

Perhaps there is no simple answer to this query. One will have to delve deep into our past, take a dispassionate look at the anti-colonial struggle and also the tragic phase of partition riots. Simultaneously we will have to discern the threads of our present, understand for ourselves the role of different actors as well as the role of ideologies to reach any tentative understanding. It is for everyone to see that in a multi-religious, multilingual country like ours the complexities of the situation are itself immense. We find ourselves in a situation where while ‘communalism’ of the majority community could be construed as ‘nationalism’, every assertion by the minority community on genuine demands tends to be seen with a ‘communal’ colour. And it follows from this that ‘terrorism’ unleashed by the majoritarians is easily disguised under the bursting of ‘pent up anger’ against the minorities whereas ‘terrorist acts’ committed by minorities of different kinds are construed as the biggest danger facing the nation.

What follows here is an attempt to move beyond the social common sense around ‘terrorism’ where we are witness to continuous stigmatisation of a particular community for actions of its lunatic fringe. This is an understanding which has received a new boost in the aftermath of 9/11 and the ‘war against terror’ unleashed by the US regime, to further its imperialist ambitions.

The need of the hour is to understand that ‘terrorism’ cannot be the monopoly of a particular community. And it is a product of the typical circumstances which societies encounter or find themselves in and the nature of the dominant or dominated forces in operation in those societies and their larger worldview.

In this connection the most important lesson, which should be remembered, is that the law and order machinery should be even handed in its approach in unearthing the truth behind every

Page | 28 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

terrorist incident or act. It should not repeat its earlier folly of stigmatizing the whole community, which it is alleged to have engaged in during last few years after similar terrorist acts. It should also not be seen going soft on Hindu militant formations for fear of providing political capital to Hindutva organizations.

II

Very few people know the animosity maintained by Hindutva fanatics towards Gandhi which was evident in four attempts on his life before Nathuram Godse’s final attempt. (Chunibhai Vaidya, a leading Gandhian from Gujarat talks about total six attempts. Apart from the details of various attempts mentioned below he talks about an attempt on his life in Sept 1946 also.)

The first one happened in Pune (25th June 1934) when Mahatma Gandhi was going to Corporation auditorium to deliver a speech. Kasturba Gandhi, his wife was also accompanying him. Incidentally the car in which Gandhis were travelling developed some snag and was delayed whereas the other car which was in their motorcade reached the venue where a bomb was thrown at the car. The explosion caused injuries to some policemen and ordinary people.

The second attempt on Mahatma Gandhi’s life also involved his future assasin namely Nathuram Godse. Gandhi was visiting Panchagani, a hill station near Pune (May 1944) where a young crowd of 15-20 young people came through a chartered bus. They organised a daylong protest demonstration against him but refused to talk when Gandhi invited them. During the prayer meeting in the evening Nathuram rushed towards Gandhi with a dagger in his hand where he was overpowered by others.

The third attempt happened when Gandhi’s talks with Jinnah started in Sep 1944. When Gandhi was leaving for Mumbai from Sevagram Ashram,

a group of fanatic Hindu youth led by Nathuram Godse tried to stop him. Their contention was that Gandhi does not travel to Mumbai to hold talks with Jinnah. Nathuram was again found in possession of a dagger.

The fourth attempt on Gandhi’s life (20 th January 1948) involved roughly the same group namely Madanlal Pahwa, Shankar Kistaiya, Digambar Badge, Vishnu Karkare, Gopal Godse, Nathuram Godse, and Narayan Apte. The plan was to attack Mahatma Gandhi and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. In this failed attempt Madanlal Pahwa placed a cotton ball enclosing a bomb on the wall behind the podium in Birla Bhavan, where Gandhi was staying. The bomb went off without creating any panic, although Madanlal Pahwa was caught. Other members of the group who were assigned to shoot Gandhi in the ensuing melee developed cold feet and did not act.

And the last one happened on 30th January at 5:17 p.m. when Nathuram Godse approached him and shot him three times in his chest at point blank range. All those involved in the crime were arrested and were tried in a court which attracted lot of media attention. Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death by the courts and others were awarded life imprisonment. As far as Savarkar was concerned he was acquitted and set free due to lack of evidence. It was worth noting that Jawaharlal Nehru as well as Gandhi’s two sons, who felt that the two men were merely pawns of top Hindutva leaders, demanded commutation of their death sentence as they sincerely felt that executing the assassins would in fact dishonour their father’s legacy who was a staunch opponent of death penalty. Nathuram Godse as well as the other conspirator Narayan Apte were hanged at Ambala Jail on November 15, 1949.

How did the killers of Gandhi tried [try] to rationalise their criminal act. According to them

Page | 29 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Gandhiji supported the idea of a separate state for Muslims, thus in a sense he was responsible for the creation of Pakistan. Secondly, belligerence of Muslims was a result of Gandhiji's policy of appeasement. Thirdly, in spite of the Pakistani aggression in Kashmir, Gandhiji fasted to compel the government of India to release an amount of Rs. 55 crores due to Pakistan.

Anyone familiar with that period of history can decipher that all these allegations are malicious and factually incorrect also. In fact, the idea of communal amity which Gandhi upheld all his life was a complete anathema to the exclusivist, Hindu Supremacist world view of the members of RSS, Hindu Mahasabha. And while nation was a racial/religious construct in the imagination of the Hindutva forces, for Gandhi and rest of the nationalists it was a territorial construct or a bounded territory comprising of different communities, collectivities living there.

And looking at the fourteen year old history of unsuccessful attempts on his life, it becomes clear that the conspiracy to eliminate Gandhiji was conceived much earlier than the successful accomplishment thereof. The grounds advanced for such a heinous crime could be seen as clever rationalisation to hoodwink the gullible.

III

The issue of Nathuram Godse’s connections with RSS (if any) still remains far from settled. In fact, any discussion on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination has always led RSS and its affiliated organisations to adopt a very ambivalent stand vis-a-vis Nathuram Godse and his team. On the one hand they are found to be making extra efforts to exhibit that neither of them have had any association with him at least at the time of murder. Of course they have not forgotten to argue that one needs to understand the frustration felt by people over Gandhi’s actions.

Look at what L.K. Advani, the then senior leader of BJP said:

‘Nathuram Godse was a bitter critic of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. His charge was that the RSS had made Hindus impotent. We have had nothing to do with Godse. The Congress is in the habit of reviving this allegation against us when it finds nothing else.’ (The Times of India, November 22, 1993)

As everybody knows people closely associated with Nathuram Godse, who themselves were party to the conspiracy to kill Gandhi, have a different take on the whole relation. In his book ‘Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi’ (1993) Gopal Godse says unambiguously: “He (Nathuram) has said in his statement that he left the RSS. He said it because Golwalkar and the RSS were in a lot of trouble after the murder of Gandhi. But he did not leave the RSS.” In the same book he also characterises Advani’s denial of Nathuram’s membership of the RSS at the time of the murder as “cowardice.”

In an interview to ‘Frontline’ (January 28, 1994, Interview by Arvind Rajgopal) Gopal Godse repeats what he had to say:

Q. Were you a part of the RSS

A. All the brothers were in the RSS. Nathuram, Dattaaatreya, myself and Govind. You can say we grew up in the RSS rather in our homes. It was like a family to us.

Q. Nathuram stayed in the RSS? He did not leave it?

A. Nathuram had become a baudhik karyavah (intellectual worker) in the RSS. He said in his statement that he left the RSS. He said it because Golwalkar and the RSS were in a lot of trouble after the murder of Gandhi. But he did not leave the RSS.

Page | 30 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Q. Advani has recently said that Nathuram had nothing to do with RSS.

A. I have countered him, saying it is cowardice to say that. You can say that RSS did not pass a resolution, saying that, ‘go and assassinate Gandhi.’ But you do not disown him (Nathuram). The Hindu Mahasabha did not disown him.

In 1944 Nathuram started doing Hindu Mahsabha work when he had been a baudhik karyavah in the RSS.

Discussing his brothers’ last moments before the hanging, Gopal Godse tells us in his above mentioned book: on reaching the platform he cited a verse of devotion to the Motherland; the verse in question was as follows:

Namaste sadaa vatsale matribhume

Tvya hindubhume sukhamvardite hum,

Mahamangle puney bhume tvdharthe

Patitvesh kaayaa namaste namaste.

Anyone who has closely watched the daily routine at the RSS Shakha s/he would reveal that the above comprises the opening verse of the RSS prayer sung in every shakha.

IV

“Yashasvi hohun ya (Be successful and return)."

—V.D. Savarkar's parting shot, quoted in police records, to Gandhi assassin Nathuram Godse and co-conspirator Narayan Dattatreya Apte

It is on record that in his deposition before the court in the Gandhi murder case, Nathuram Godse was conscious to distance himself from RSS as well as from Savarkar. It is a different matter that archival records show that Godse worked closely with Savarkar since 1935. The assassin’s

and his other collobrators strategy definitely saved Savarkar from getting convicted in the assassination case despite playing a key role in the conspiracy (as later enquiries revealed).

In fact, the trial judge in the case Atma Charan had framed the first charge against all eight accused, including Savarkar, that they had conspired to commit Gandhi's murder. Curiously, he convicted all others but let off Savarkar on the technical ground that there was no corroborative proof to confirm approver Digambar Badge's evidence who became prosecution’s key witness. Yet, the trial judge found Badge to be a trustworthy witness.

Badge happened to be a Hindu Mahasabha worker who had supplied the gun cotton slab to Godse and others and which was used by Madanlal. He told the court many important facts about Savarkar's involvement in the assassination plot. According to a report in ‘Outlook’ (‘The Mastermind ?’, Rajesh Ramchandran, 6 Sep 2004) which discusses snippets from the National archives to see if RSS icon (namely Savarkar) had any role in Gandhi’s assassination or not.

Badge told the police about the motive of the assassins. "Apte asked whether I was willing to accompany them to Delhi. I enquired for what purpose, whereupon Apte said that 'Tatyarao' meaning Savarkar decided that Gandhiji, Jawaharlal Nehru and Suhrawardhy should be finished and that this work had been entrusted to them."

..."I was asked to remain downstairs .. and both of them, i.e., Apte and Godse went upstairs to take darshan of Savarkar. After five or 10 minutes, they both came down and as they were getting down the stairs, Savarkar followed them down the stairs and said to them 'Yeshasvi hohun ya (be successful and return)'. On the way back from Savarkar, Sadan Apte told Badge that, 'Tatyarao

Page | 31 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

had predicted that Gandhiji's 100 years were over.... '

It is worth noting that DCP Jamshed Nagarvala of the Bombay Presidency, who was asked by Morarji Desai, then Bombay’s home minister to put a close watch on Savarkar’s house and his movements after the bomb incident on 20th January involving Madanlal Pahwa, clearly explains the reasons behind this action in his crime report : “"The source informed that it was at the direct instigation and instance of Savarkar that this conspiracy was hatched and plan prepared to take the life of Mahatmaji, and his pretense to be ill and out of politics was a mere cover.... Hence it was decided to immediately put a watch on the house of Savarkar." And when Savarkar’s lawyer questioned this move by the police in the trial court and asked the home minister to respond, Morarji Desai is reported to have countered: “Shall I give my reasons? It is for Savarkar to decide whether I should answer. I am prepared to give my reasons.” Upon this. Savarkar’s lawyer said: “I withdraw my question.” (See J.C.Jain, The Murder of Mahatma Gandhi: Prelude and Aftermath, Chetna Ltd, Bombay, 1961, p.104)

Exactly sixteen years after Gandhi’s assassination a public furore forced the then government to take a fresh look at the conspiracy and also to look into the fact that whether there was any deliberate dereliction of duty on the part of people in high authority or not. It got precipitated after a public programme was organised in Pune to celebrate the release of the conspirators from jail after the expiry of their sentences (12th Nov 1964) and where some of the speakers revealed that they had they had prior information about the murder. Under pressure of 29 members of parliament and public opinion the then Union home minister Gulzarilal Nanda, constituted a commission led by Jeevanlal Kapur, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, to conduct the inquiry.

Kapur commission also examined Savarkar's role in the assassination. As things had unfolded in the trial court of Atma Charan, Godse had claimed full responsibility for planning and carrying out the attack, in absence of an independent corroboration of the prosecution witness. Here Badge’s testimony was not accepted as it lacked lacked independent corroboration. This was later corroborated by the testimony of two of Savarkar's close aides - Appa Ramachandra Kasar, his bodyguard, and Gajanan Vishnu Damle, his secretary, who had not testified in the original trial but later testified before the Justice Kapur commission set up in 1965. Kasar told the Kapur Commission that they visited him on or about January 23 or 24, which was when they returned from Delhi after the bomb incident. Damle deposed that Godse and Apte saw Savarkar in the middle of January and sat with him (Savarkar) in his garden. Justice Kapur concluded: "All these facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group.”

Postscript: It is not generally known that the day Godse died – 15 th November – is celebrated by Hindutva fanatics as ‘martyrdom’ day in different parts of the country. In parts of western India, such programmes are organised publicly. A play on the life of Nathuram – Me Nathuram Boltoy (I Nathuram Speak) which looks at those events from the perspective of a Hindutva fanatic runs into packed houses in Maharashtra.

Time to remember that Godse might be dead but the danger of Godse’s worldview gaining further legitimacy exists.

Subhash Gatade is the author of Pahad Se Uncha Aadmi (2010) Godse's Children: Hindutva Terror in India,(2011) and The Saffron Condition: The Politics of Repression and Exclusion in Neoliberal India(2011). He is also the Convener of New Socialist Initiative (NSI)

Email: subhash.gatade@gmail.com

Page | 32 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

7. Gandhi Murder and Role of RSS: Debate Continues

By Ram Puniyani

Last week (March 2014) Rahul Gandhi in an election campaign meeting said that ‘RSS people killed Gandhiji and today their people and BJP talk of him…They opposed Sardar Patel and Gandhiji.” In a reaction to his statement RSS has lodged a complaint with election commission. This is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has made such a statement; on an earlier occasion also he had made similar statement. What is the truth of Gandhi murder; did RSS as an organization had any role in it? Were members of RSS involved in it? What was the reaction of RSS followers in the wake of Gandhi murder? What was the response of Sardar Patel, the then Home minister in Union Cabinet to this ghastly murder?

These have been the subject matters of many books, films and plays, apart from myriad of books and articles. While the incident, the commissions of inquiry and the judgment are there for all to see, the deeper causes of Gandhi

murder have not been debated, the underlying cause of contrasting Nationalisms is not brought to the fore in most of the debates. Today it is necessary not only to unearth the incident of Gandhi murder but it is also imperative to understand that Gandhi murder had deeper ideological underpinnings, those related to two notions of Nationalism, the one Indian Nationalism, which Gandhi espoused and strived for and other the Hindu Nationalism, the nationalism pursued by Godse, Gandhi’s murderer. Incidentally the current Prime Ministerial candidate of BJP, the political wing of RSS, is also boasting about his nationalism being Hindu, so the matters become all the more relevant in the current political context.

After the murder of Mahatma, the official RSS line had been that we have nothing to do with Godse; neither is he a member of RSS. They could get away with this as there was no official record of

Page | 33 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

members of RSS, and they could disown Godse at legal level. As such Godse joined RSS in 1930 and very soon rose to be its bauddhik pracharak (intellectual propagator), “Having worked for the uplift of the Hindus I felt it necessary to take part in political activities of the country for the protection of just rights of Hindus. I therefore left the Sangh (RSS) and joined Hindu Mahasabha (Godse, ‘Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi’ 1993, and Pg. 102). He held Mahatma responsible for appeasing Muslims, and thereby the formation of Pakistan. He joined Hindu Mahasabha, at that time the only political party of Hindutva, and became general secretary of its Pune Branch. In due course he started a newspaper, as founder editor, called Agrani or Hindu Rashtra.

In an interview given to ‘The Times of India’ (25 Jan 98) Nathuram’s brother Gopal Godse, who was also an accomplice in the murder, elaborates the apparent reasons and Nathuram’s RSS membership. “The appeasement policy followed by him (Gandhi) and imposed on all Congress governments’ encouraged the Muslim separatist tendencies that eventually created Pakistan…. Technically and theoretically he (Nathuram) was a member (of RSS), but he stopped workings for it later. His statement in the court that he had left the RSS was to protect the RSS workers who would be imprisoned following the murder. On the understanding that they (RSS workers) would benefit from his dissociating himself from the RSS, he gladly did it.”

This murder was celebrated by RSS followers by distributing sweets, Sardar Patel wrote, “All their (RSS) leaders’ speeches were full of communal poison. As a final result, the poisonous atmosphere was created in which such a ghastly tragedy (Gandhi’s murder) became possible. RSS men expressed their joy and distributed sweets after Gandhi’s death.” Excerpts from Sardar Patel’s letters to M S Golwalkar and S P Mookerjee. (Outlook, April 27, 1998) The way

Hindu communalists were spewing poison against Gandhi, it was logical outcome of their politics. They used the word wadh for this murder; this word stands for killing a demon who is harming the society. In a way Gandhi murder was the first major offensive of the Hindutva politics on Indian Nationalism, in a way it was to herald the onset of bigger dangers which Hindutva politics has assumed today.

Contrary to the claims of Godse that it was only his planning, the commissions of inquiry have stated that it was a conspiracy by various followers of Hindu Mahsabha-RSS ideology, who planned to kill the Mahatma as he, a Hindu, was a big obstacle to turn this country in to a Hindu nation. Sardar Patel wrote that it was a fanatical wing of the Hindu Mahasabha directly under Savarkar that hatched the conspiracy and saw it through,…of course his assassination was welcomed by those of the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha who were strongly opposed to his way of thinking and to his policy…” (Sardar Patel Quoted in Justice Kapoor report Chapter I page 43). Justice Jivan Lal Kapoor himself concluded that “…all the facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group.”

This Hindutva became the base of politics of Hindu Mahsabha and RSS. Gandhi in contrast was a Hindu but was opposed to the idea of Nation being a Hindu nation. Similarly we see Maulana Abul Kalam Azad; a Muslim never supported the idea of a Muslim Nation Pakistan.Gandhi and Hindutva politics were two opposite poles. Gandhi united the whole nation on secular grounds, cutting across region, religion and caste. He was a religious person but he was opposed to misuse of religion for political goals… “In India, for whose fashioning I have worked all my life, every man enjoys equality of status, whatever his religion is. The state is bound to be wholly secular” (Harijan August 31, 1947) and,” religion is a personal affair of each individual, it must not

Page | 34 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

be mixed up with politics or national affairs”(ibid pg 90).While Hindu Mahasabha and RSS believed that this nation is a Hindu nation and minorities have to remain subordinate to Hindus. They mostly did not take part in anti British agitations and struggles. For example Savarkar who was an anti British revolutionary in the beginning of his life, after getting released from Andman jail, never participated in any anti British movement or joined and national movement. RSS followers barring Hedgewar, occasionally and in the beginning also did not take part in freedom movement. Their main focus was countering the Muslim communalists and subjugating them, they were not against the British power as such.

The issue of 55 crores was a mere pretext As a matter of fact this 55 crore was the Pakistan’s share from the united treasury. The first installment of the money was already given and 55 crores were to be given. Meanwhile Pakistan attacked Kashmir. Indian Government withheld these 55 crores after Pakistan attack on Kashmir. Kashmir that time was an independent state and Gandhi, true to his ethical stand in political arena, asked the government not to link Pakistan’s share with the Kashmir problem.

Any way this was a pretext as even before Gandhi talked about Pakistan’s share of 55 crores, already four attacks were made on Gandhi’s life, in some of which Godse was also involved. Jagan Phadnis in his book ‘Mahatmyachi Akher’ (Lokvangymay Griha, 1994) correctly argues that Gandhi murder was not on the charges propagated by them (Partition and insistence on paying Pakistan’s dues (55 crore) from the treasury), but due to the basic deep differences with the social politics of Gandhi and that of the followers of the Hindu Rashtra. These two reasons are proffered merely as a pretext for the same. We need to understand that when BJP and company talk of nationalism, they are not talking of Indian Nationalism but Hindu nationalism, which is the not so hidden part of their political agenda. The present attacks on secular fabric of our polity are yet another assassination attempts of Mahatma. So talking about the deeper causes of his murder will remain relevant till the attacks on secular democratic values of the country continue to hover on the nation.

****

8. Gandhi, RSS and Godse

By L.S. Hardenia

Greatest Gandhi Hater

Mahatma Gandhi was always at the top in the list of leaders who were hated by the RSS. The main reason for this hatred was their view that Gandhi was the biggest impediment in spreading the concept of Hindu Rashtra. The RSS was aware of the fact that though Gandhi was one of the greatest Hindus but at the same time, he was the

strongest opponent of making India a Hindu Rashtra. Gandhi was against religion-based discrimination. Hindu Rashtra will continue to be a dream if Gandhi is alive. RSS adopted a very shrewd strategy for the physical elimination of Gandhi.

Though Gandhi was killed by a staunch RSS activist, they succeeded in creating an impression that Godse had nothing to do with the RSS. But

Page | 35 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

many, including Morarji Desai, former Prime Minister did not think so. He was of the confirmed view that Godse was a RSS worker. Desai writes in his autobiography: "On 30 January, while Bapu was on his way to the prayer meeting three shots were fired at him from a revolver. Bapu fell and died soon after. Nathuram Godse was the man responsible for the murder. He had been a worker of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh in Poona and also the editor of a paper.

"The plain-clothes men arrested him on the spot. Godse, a fanatic Hindu, believed that Bapu was partial to Muslims and was unjust to Hindus, and was under the illusion that, by murdering Bapu, he was rendering a great service to the Hindu community. As far as I remember, he made a statement to this effect during his trial.

“I heard this terrible news within half-an-hour of the incident and was shocked. I did not then know who had committed the crime and was worried about one possibility. I was afraid that if the murderer was a Muslim there would be a great upheaval and the Hindu community might resort to undesirable and dangerous steps. This worry disappeared when I learnt that a Hindu was responsible for this dastardly act."

Govind Sahai, in his book, analyses the motives for Gandhi's murder. He writes: (Page 4-5) "Mahatma Gandhi's murder shook the people from their complacence and awakened them from their indifference. A wave of indignation

swept the country. The people rose en masse to demand complete annihilation of the organisations, whose ideologies of hatred and violence had made the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in certain ways inevitable. It was, therefore, necessary now for the Government of India to take action against an organisation like the RSS. But when the ban was actually imposed it proved a boon in disguise for the Sangh and its leaders. Now, it is commonly admitted that but for the ban and the arrests of the RSS leaders and

workers, the uncontrollable popular frenzy and indignation of the people following the assassination of the Mahatma would have greatly endangered the lives of the Sanghites.

"It would be foolish to say that Gandhiji's murder was the act of an individual. On the contrary, it was, in fact, the logical result of a system of thought and an attitude of mind which the hot-headed gospel of communal hatred and continuous preaching of violence and retaliation had created in the country. The Sangh leadership contributed a lot to the intensification of this violent attitude of mind. Public memory is no doubt short but at the same time, not so short as to forget how, in those days, it was a common talk among the RSS people. All sorts of malicious motives were imputed to Mahatma Gandhi and he was painted as the greatest enemy of the Hindus and the most incorrigible friend of the Muslims."

Who was Godse? This question has been repeatedly discussed in various books and periodicals. A prestigious English magazine brought out a special issue on the RSS. The ‘Outlook’ dated April 27, 1998 discussed in detail the antecedents of Godse. The piece with the title "The Godse Dilemma" was written by Rajesh Joshi. Excerpts from it are being reproduced here.

"The RSS has great difficulty in either acknowledging or rejecting Nathuram Godse. The official line is that the RSS had nothing to do with Godse and he was not a member when he killed Mahatma Gandhi. But only three months ago, Professor Rajendra Singh, RSS chief, told ‘Outlook’: "Godse was motivated by Akhand Bharat. His intention was good but he used the wrong method."

Who was Godse

“Born in 1908 in the family of a village postmaster, Godse was drawn to the philosophy of Hindu nationalism. In his early days, he participated in stray movements against caste discrimination to "reform Hindu society". He was

Page | 36 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

a moderately-educated person, with a fairly good command on English, greatly influenced by the writings of Veer Savarkar, president of the aggressive Hindu Mahasabha. He had also read Dadabhai Naoroji, Tilak and Gokhale.

In 1930, at the age of 22, Godse became a member of the RSS, which was then considered to be an organisation of Marathi Brahmin youths. Very soon he carved a niche for himself in the Sangh and became a 'Baudhik Pracharak' (intellectual propagator). His brother Gopal Godse says, ‘Nathuram had declared before the court that he had left the RSS in 1934 as the then RSS chief was facing a lot of trouble. But he actually never left the organisation.’ In those days, the RSS didn't maintain a record of the membership, and, therefore, the organisation has littledifficulty in disowning Godse. The RSS headquarters in Delhi recently instructed Suruchi Prakashan not to sell any literature on Godse.

“A unified India, comprising Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar was Godse's dream and in his will he decreed that his ‘ashes may be immersed in the holy Sindhu river when she will again flow freely under the aegis of the flag of Hindustan.’

“As a member of the RSS, Godse once went on a tour with its founder KB Hedgewar. In 1934, he left the RSS because he wanted to transform the RSS- ‘a cultural outfit’- into an aggressive Hindu political party. At that time, the Hindu Mahasabha was the only ‘political party of Hindus’ which preached militarisation of Hindus. Soon after coming into contact with Savarkar, Godsebecame a member of the party. Later, he became general secretary of its Pune branch. But gradually he started feeling uncomfortable in the Hindu Mahasabha because he thought Savarkar was being soft on the Congress.

“In 1944, Godse, along with his friend Narayan Apte, launched a newspaper called ‘Hindu Rashtra’ from Pune to propagate the ideology. He was closely monitoring Gandhi, whose efforts to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity infuriated him.

Interestingly, when MS Golwalkar became RSS chief, he ridiculed Gandhi's stand of "no Swaraj without Hindu-Muslim unity". At 5.10 pm on January 30, 1948, Godse fired three shots at Gandhi at Birla Bhavan. His newspaper carried the story of the assassination mentioning the name of its editor as the assassin. Godse and accomplice Apte were hanged in Ambala jail on November 15, 1949.

“After the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in January 1948, the RSS was banned by the government. Although not directly involved in the assassination, the organisation had been active in the Punjab violence, and had much support among disaffected refugees. Their worldview was akin to Nathuram Godse's, and it was widely rumoured that RSS men had privately celebrated his killing of the Mahatma. Writing to the Punjab government, two weeks after Gandhi's death, Nehru said that 'we have had enough suffering already in India because of the activities of the RSS and like groups...These people have the blood of Mahatma Gandhi on their hands, and pious disclaimers and disassociation now have no meaning.'

Patel Bans RSS

“So the RSS was banned, and its cadres arrested. However, after a year, the government decided to make the organisation legal once more. Its head, M.S. Golwalkar, had now agreed to ask his men to ‘profess loyalty to the Constitution of India and the national flag; and to restrict the Sangh's

activities to the cultural sphere abjuring violence or secrecy'. The RSS chief promised the Home Minister, Vallabhbhai Patel, that 'while rendering help to the people in distress, we have laid our emphasis on promoting peace in the country'. Patel himself had mixed feelings about the RSS. While deploring their anti-Muslim rhetoric, he admired their dedication and discipline”.

Gandhi's murder gave a big jolt to the RSS. There was wide-spread anger against the RSS all over the country and also abroad. Immediately after

Page | 37 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

the murder, a ban was imposed on the RSS. The Government of India Communiqué banning the RSS was issued on Feb. 4, 1948. The text of the communiqué is being reproduced here:

"In their resolution of February 2, 1948, the Government of India declared their determination to root out the forces of hate and violence that are at work in our country and imperil the freedom of the Nation and darken her fair name. In pursuance of this policy, the Government of India have decided to declare unlawful the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the Chief Commissioner's Provinces. Similar action is also being taken in the Governors' Provinces.

"As democratic governments, the Government of India and the provincial governments have always been anxious to allow reasonable scope for genuine political, social and economic activities to all parties and organisations, including those whose policies and purposes differ from, or even run counter to their own, subject to the consideration that such activities should not transgress certain commonly recognised limits of propriety or law. The professed aims and objects of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are to promote the physical, intellectual and moral well-being of the Hindus and also to foster feelings of brotherhood, love and service amongst them. Government themselves are most anxious to improve the general material and intellectual well-being of all sections of the people and have got schemes on hand which are designed to carry out these objects, particularly the provision of physical training and education in military matters to the youth of the country. Government have, however, noticed with regret that in practice, members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have not adhered to their professed ideals.

Dangerous Activities of RSS

"Undesirable and even dangerous activities have been carried on by members of the Sangh. It has

been found that in several parts of the country, individual members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity, and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunitions. They have been found circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect fire arms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and the military. These activities have been carried on under a cloak of secrecy, and the government have considered from time to time, how far these activities rendered it incumbent on them to deal with the Sangh in its corporate capacity. The last occasion when the government defined this attitude was when the Premiers and the Home Ministers of provinces met in Delhi in conference towards the end of November.

"It was then unanimously agreed that the stage when the Sangh should be dealt with as an association had not yet arrived and that individuals should continue to be dealt with sternly as hitherto. The objectionable and harmful activities of the Sangh have, however, continued unabated and the cult of violence sponsored and inspired by the activities of the Sangh has claimed many victims. The latest and the most precious to fall was Gandhiji himself.

"In these circumstances it is the bounden duty of the government to take effective measures to curb this re-appearance of violence in a virulent form and as a first step to this end, they have decided to declare the Sangh as an unlawful association. Government have no doubt that in taking this measure they have the support of all law-abiding citizens, of all those who have the welfare of the country at heart” - (RSS, Desraj Goyal, P 201)

Soon after the release of Guru Golwalkar, a Press Note was issued on Nov. 14, 1948 explaining the issues involved. The press note is being reproduced here:

Page | 38 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

"Soon after his release from prison in Nagpur after the statutory period of six months, Mr. Golwalkar, head of the RSS organisation, made approaches to the government which indicated a possibility that the activities of that organisation might be diverted and confined to channels which would have no harmful effect on the communal situation in the country. He also expressed a desire to interview the Home Minister. In order to enable him to do so, the Government of India requested the CP government to cancel an order issued by them under which Mr. Golwalkar's movements had been restricted to the city of Nagpur and to facilitate his departure for Delhi for the specific purpose of seeing the Home Minister.

"Mr. Golwalkar, accordingly, came to Delhi and had his first interview with the Home Minister soon after his arrival. There was an exchange of views and Mr.. Golwalkar wanted some time to consult his followers in an attempt to influence them on the right lines. Some days later, he had his second interview during which he expressed his inability to bind himself to any change until the ban was lifted. He felt that the lifting of the ban would strengthen his hands in dealing with his followers. Simultaneously, however, the Government of India had got in touch with provincial governments to acquaint themselves with their views and the latest information about the activities of the RSS. The information received by the Government of India shows that the activities carried on in various forms and ways by the people associated with the RSS tend to be anti-national and often subversive and violent and that persistent attempts are being made by the RSS to revive an atmosphere in the country which was productive of such disastrous consequences in the past. For these reasons, the provincial governments have declared themselves

opposed to the withdrawal of the ban and the Government of India have concurred with the view of the provincial governments.

"This position was conveyed to Mr. Golwalkar towards the end of the last month and he was told that since the purpose for which he had been allowed to come to Delhi had been served, he should now return to Nagpur. Mr. Golwalkar was not prepared to accept this position and expressed a desire to see the Home Minister and the Prime Minister on their return to Delhi. The Home Minister declined to grant a further interview, but in order to give him a chance to interview the Prime Minister on his return, if the latter so desired, he was allowed to remain in Delhi under certain restrictive orders issued by the District Magistrate of Delhi. Mr. Golwalkar declined to accept the orders of restrictions, but has made no attempts to contravene the restrictions imposed on him. He has written letters both to the Prime Minister and Home Minister explaining inter alia that the RSS agrees entirely in the conception of a secular state for India and that it accepts the National Flag of the country and requesting that the ban imposed on the organisation in February should now be lifted. These professions of the RSS leader are, however, quite inconsistent with the practice of his followers and for the reasons already explained above, the Government of India find themselves unable to advise provincial governments to lift the ban. The Prime Minister has, therefore, declined the interview which Mr. Golwalkar had sought.

"Mr. Golwalkar is accordingly being informed that he should make immediate arrangements to return to Nagpur. The Government of India are also taking appropriate steps to ensure that Mr. Golwalkar complies with these instructions”. (RSS, Desraj Goyal, P 203).

***

Page | 39 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Book review

9. Preserving the Truth Behind Gandhi’s Murder

By Hari Narayan

BEYOND DOUBT — A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination: Compiled by Teesta Setalvad; Tulika Books, 35 A/1 (ground

floor), Shahpur Jat, New Delhi-110049. Rs. 450.

June 25, 1934 has got a curious connection to the three shots fired at around 5:10 pm on the fateful Friday of January 30, 1948, shots that would go on to silence the life of a 79-year-old frail but resolute Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. For it was on that day, while on a visit to Pune, that

Gandhiji witnessed the first of six attempts on his

life, the sixth of which was to result in his death. That two of the four subsequent unsuccessful attempts were to involve his eventual assassin, Nathuram Godse, did not force law enforcement authorities to keep an eye on the misguided Hindu fanatic. The act of murder of an individual to whom poet Rabindranath Tagore gave the moniker ‘Mahatma’, one who Subhash Chandra Bose referred to as ‘Father of the Nation’, has rightly been called by Teesta Setalvad in this dossier as the first act of terror committed in independent India. For what was it if not the result of an organised conspiracy on the part of a section of people to spread terror among Indian public at large?

Setalvad, the curator of this collection of articles, documents and excerpts from books on the assassination, says the book’s aim is to collect and preserve the archival truths associated with the Mahatma’s murder, documents that she feels are under threat of cleansing under the present dispensation.

The murder, she says, was “a declaration of war and a statement of intent.” Declaration of war by a section of society, which remained largely on the fringes during the independence struggle. This was a section that bore visceral dislike toward the idea of composite culture and inclusive nationhood advocated by the Mahatma. However, subsequent events, the most seminal of which was the adoption of an intellectual

Page | 40 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

masterpiece in the form of the Indian Constitution on January 26, 1950, make it clear that the assassination failed on both counts.

The Fundamental Rights and Economic Principles, which first found mention in the Karachi Resolution of 1931 and to which this book refers to as the antithesis of all that the Hindu Right stood for, were incorporated and, later, institutionalised by the three pillars of our democracy. It was Magna Carta more than Manusmriti that guided the way we govern our political life. However, as indicated in different sections of this book, the majoritarian ideology that led to Gandhiji’s killing and communal violence in independent India continued to flourish under the patronage of fringe organisations.

A considerable portion of the book reproduces archival files, and documents. However, the parts in which it is at its most impressive are the places where the lucidity of literature trumps the monotony of journalism. For instance, the essay ‘The Last Hours of the Mahatma’ by Stephen Murphy, where it is indicated that the Mahatma had a foreboding on that Friday morning that he won’t live for long. Or the compassionate editorials published by Pakistani newspapers which paid poignant tributes to the Mahatma, which prove that his ideas did have their admirers in India’s conjoined twin toward the west in its initial days. One of them that appeared in Pakistan Times compared his killing to the crucifixion of Christ. Another one, by poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, calling Gandhiji “a symbol of hope and courage” to Muslims, said his death was a loss to both countries.

The most important piece here is the English translation of Jagan Phadnis’s book Mahatmyachi Akher (End of the Sage) on which the strength of Setalvad’s collection rests. Phadnis stresses that

the murder was a failed attempt to silence the soul of someone who, in life and death, championed right to equality and dignity of the masses, someone whose thinking shaped the very idea of an independent India. Pankaj Mishra, in his biography of Buddha, compared the philosophy of Gautama to that propagated by Gandhi — the belief that a change in attitude can be brought about by appealing to one’s conscience. Gandhiji believed that in practicing non-violence, one’s sympathies should be expressed toward the oppressor as well as the victim, to the point where the oppressor undergoes a change of heart.

His death, however, failed to bring about a change of heart in his assassins. Be it Nathuram or his brother and co-conspirator Gopal Godse, whose interview in 1994 to Arvind Rajagopal is reproduced in this book, they remained unrepentant till the end. However, had he survived on that Friday, Gandhiji — having forgiven Godse for one of the previous attempts on his life — would have chosen not to consider him an adversary.

This book holds the Hindu Right guilty of propagating the majoritarian idea of Hindu Rashtra. However, the mainstreaming of the kind of inclusive politics that the Mahatma visualised made sure that such impulses, which in due course became de rigeur in Pakistan, were kept in check.

The kind of admiration the Mahatma invokes in different sections of not just our society but also that of other nations, in contrast to the revulsion his antitheses provoke, proves that moderation triumphs over vituperation in the long run.

Keywords: Gandhi assasination, Nathuram Godse, Karachi Resolution, Teesta Setalvad, Beyond Doubt — A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination, history books

Page | 41 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

Book Review

10. Savarkar and Hindutva

By A.G. Noorani

On a sunny humid Saturday morning, with

nothing to do at home, I headed out to look for

myself the bookstore Kitab Khana, located in an

area called Fort in Mumbai. Couple of months ago

I had passed through dark alleys near C.S.T and

had stumbled upon a large mansion-like building

with ‘Kitab Mahal’ written on its large entrance,

underneath ‘Indo American Society’ and I

mistakenly assumed it to be the bookstore. The

reflecting sunlight made me more level headed

and I searched for address of Kitab Khaana on my

phone while standing in front of Kitab Mahal. I

walked along crowded streets, to be surprised by

a roadside mobile accessories vendor who

recognized make of my phone by glancing at its

backside for a fraction of a second! On entering

Kitab Khana, one could feel its rich interiors with

marble statues lining top of the shelves on one

side, with the other one leading to a café located

inside the store. History section disappointingly

was suffocating small – there were hardly any

books I was unaware of. So amongst the few

which I had not heard of, ‘Savarkar and Hindutva

– The Godse Connection’ by A.G. Noorani caught

my eye. A.G. Noorani is a regular columnist in

Frontline magazine, and I devour his well

researched and sometimes difficult to understand

book reviews. He also practiced as an advocated

in Supreme Court of India. Rise of Hindutva is an

illuminating one in a land revered for moderate

Hindus and accepting nature of Hinduism.

Christophe Jaffrelot’s ‘Hindu Nationalist

Movement and Indian Politics’ lay unread on my

shelf, but I couldn’t stop myself from buying this

one.

Mr. Noorani starts with efforts of BJP from 1990s

onwards towards reviving the image of Vinayak

Damodar Savarkar. However, he writes, “only in

2002 could Lal Kishen Advani, the BJP’s foremost

exponent of Hindutva, muster courage to laud

Savarkar as a national hero”. That Savarkar’s

portrait replaced that of Gandhi during BJP’s rule

cannot be more despicable and ironical given that

Nathuram Godse, was Savarkar’s disciple, and

Gandhi’s assassin. Because of ideological

differences in politics of BJP and Congress, BJP

had to bring out its side of contribution towards

achievement of Indian independence, and this is

Page | 42 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

what they came up with. Coverage of the book is

wide indeed – from books to articles, from

speeches to court orders – everything has been

unearthed to bring facts on the table. He laments

that “a fair and definitive biography of Savarkar is

yet to appear. The standard work in English is

Dhananjay Keer’s biography which often borders

on hagiography”. Author mentions hard work put

in by Savarkar for his first book The First Indian

War of Independence – 1857, a “veritable classic”

and gives him credit where due.

However, the so called revolutionary character of

Savarkar falls apart when he is sent to jail owing

to his involvement in two murders of British men.

He was sent to Cellular Jail in Port Blair, wherein

after spending considerable amount in jail, he

bows to British masters and his family is putting

frantic efforts to get him released. The

“submissive, even obsequious” nature of him is

evident from verbatim letters written by him to

British, asking for forgiveness. The point which

stirs a debate in my head is when it is mentioned

that “Savarkar was the first to propound the two-

nation theory. He propounded it first in Hindutva

in 1923” and “Jinnah propounded his two-nation

theory in 1939”. This was something I couldn’t

immediately fathom because MJ Akbar, in

Tinderbox, had mentioned and clearly written

how the movement for separation of Muslims

and Hindus (for fear of being left behind after the

British) had roots in eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries. This topic however will need more

research (1, 2) and reading from my side before

commenting further. I felt the author should have

delved deeper about why he believes only

Savarkar was the first ever proponent and not

elite Muslims (especially of Bengal) in 18th and

19th centuries, rather than just accuse him of the

disastrous theory on the basis of his writings in

Hindutva.

About Gandhi’s murder, the author, based on

various court orders and letters, concludes that

Savarkar was involved in the planning of it,

however RSS (as an organization) wasn’t – but

members of Hindu Mahasabha were directly

involved in the assassination. In chapter ‘Gandhi’s

Murder’ he chalks out movements of suspects

and how their first attempt at assassination failed

and succeeded only during their second attempt,

both in Delhi. Accused in the case were Nathuram

Godse, Narayan Apte, Vishnu Karkare, Madanlal

Pahwa, Shankar Kistayya, Gopal Godse, V.D.

Savarkar and Dattatraya Parchure. Barring

“Kistayya, all were committed Mahasabhaites

blindly loyal to Savarkar”. And it was all the more

surprising to read that “Nathuram Godse and

Apte left by plane on the afternoon of the 17th

arriving at Delhi in the evening and stayed at the

Marina Hotel, then a fairly posh European style

hotel in Connaught Circus”. Author then points to

various statements of accused and action of the

prosecution to nail them. He verbatim quotes

their statements and notes how law is structured

differently for a civil suit and a criminal suit.

Savarkars honorific title of ‘Veer’ is ripped apart

owing to his fawning behavior when in trouble

with the government, whether British or Indian.

His vile-filled articles against Muslims and even

Arabs (during the creation of State of Israel) bring

forth a personality which is less of a revolutionary

and more of an extremist, and extremist however

who is scared to death when faced with

accusations. In the end, Savarkar went scot-free

only because Judge Atma Charan felt “’unsafe’ to

convict Savarkar on Badge’s uncorroborated

evidence even though he had found him to be a

truthful witness”. Though Sardar Patel’s views,

Page | 43 Gandhi’s Assassination- Godse and RSS Connection

“morally, it is possible that one’s conviction may

be the other way about” (when writing about how

one may be innocent in the eye of law, but not

necessarily morally), and Justice Jivan Lal Kapur

end up nailing the truth by laying bare “the

pattern underlying earlier crimes – Curzon Wylie’s

murder in 1909, Jackson’s murder in 1909, an

attempt to murder Hotson in 1931, and Gandhi’s

murder in 1948”.

This book is not meant for somebody who is

unaware of BJP / RSS / twentieth century Indian

history as it straight away enters into a muddled

world of politics and hardliners. The book is short

with 147 pages barring bibliography. It is a bit

drab in places and repetitive on some aspects of

the case. Author does however cross the line

more often than not by passing crude personal

comments about Savarkar, rather than being

objective about it. Leaving aside the jingoism, it

makes for an eye opener on Savarkar – the man

still leading BJP / RSS towards light of a path not

so righteous.

***

Selected Readings

1. A.G.Noorani: Savarkar and Hindutva-Godse Connection, Left Word

2. Deshraj Goyal: RSS, Radha Krishna, Delhi 2000

3. Teesta Setalvad: Beyond Doubt- A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination, Tulika

4. Ram Puniyani: The Second Assassination of Gandhi, Olive, Calicut 2015

5. Jagan Phadnis, ‘Mahatmyachi Akher’ (Lokvangymay Griha, 1994)

===========================================================================================

Published by Centre for Study of Society and Secularism 602 & 603 New Silver Star, Prabhat Colony Rd., Behind BEST Bus Depot, Santacruz (E),

Mumbai: - 400 055. E-mail: csss2work@gmail.com

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1