‘Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India’
by Dhirendra K. Jha
Pages: 288
Penguin
Price Rs. 540/-
Md. Zeeshan Ahmad
Many books and academic essays have been written over the years studying the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948. The role of Nathuram Godse, Gandhi’s assassin, and a protégé of Vinayak Savarkar – the chief theorizer of Hindutva, has also been examined closely by scholars. Even the conspiratorial role played by both the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh [RSS] and the Hindu Mahasabha in the killing of Gandhi, and Godse’s association with both the organisations, at the same time, has been well documented in academic works. Considerable literature has also been produced on Gandhi’s murder trial in which, among others, Godse and Narayan Apte were awarded death sentence, and Savarkar, an accused, was exonerated for want of independent corroborative evidence.
Prominent works covering the above themes are author and activist Tushar Gandhi’s ‘Let’s Kill Gandhi!: A Chronicle of His Last Days, the Conspiracy, Murder, Investigation, and Trial’ (2007), lawyer A.G. Noorani’s ‘Savarkar and Hindutva: The Godse Connection’ (2002), English-American author Robert Payne’s ‘The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi’ (1969), lawyer P.L. Inamdar’s ‘The Story of the Red Fort Trial, 1948-49’ (1979) and American writer Larry Collins and French author Dominique Lapierre’s ‘Freedom at Midnight’ (1976).
Investigative journalist D.K. Jha’s latest book ‘Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India’ is the latest addition on the theme of Gandhi’s assassination and his assassin – Godse, and the politics that both inspired and informed him, leading him to kill Gandhi. Given that there is already a corpus of literature available on this theme, what is different or interesting about Jha’s book?
Gandhi’s assassination case revisited in light of new evidence
Jha’s book stands out from other books on this theme on few counts. First, it studies Gandhi’s assassination in light of new and hitherto untapped evidence, which has not been used by the researchers yet. Second, this book is perhaps one of the first complete biographical accounts of Nathuram Godse in English, attempting to look at and study the issue keeping the assassin at the centre. Third, Jha challenges the existing sources which claim that Godse was not associated with the RSS, by questioning its provenance and genuineness.
In a way, Jha’s new research, as incorporated in this amazing book, not only demolishes several of the narratives perpetuated by the RSS over the years with regards to Gandhi’s killing, but even set the record straight, yet again.
An identity marked by virile masculinity and power always tempted the young Godse, owing to his childhood experience, and later, an anxiety-driven adult life. This aspiration gets redeemed when Godse comes in contact with Savarkar. The taste of Hindutva politics, propounded by Savarkar, predicated mainly on chauvinism, bigotry, and anti-Muslim hatred, changed Godse’s life forever, as it gave both meaning and purpose to his life.
By focusing on the “assassin’s [Nathuram Godse] past … his complex childhood experiences, the pattern of his evolution, his relationship with different organisation and individuals around him … [and] the secret act committed in the name of Hindu Rashtra”, Jha argues that at the time of Gandhi’s assassination, “he [Godse] was working for both the organisations [RSS and Hindu Mahasabha] simultaneously” (p.278 ).
In support of this claim, Jha first cites the Marathi version of the 92 paged pre-trial statement of Godse given in the first week of March 1948, which hitherto has not been used by the researchers. This statement, however, was given eight months before he read out his much publicized statement in the court in November 1948 during his trial at Red Fort.
This Marathi version of his pre-trial statement, which Jha calls the highlight of his research, contradicts several claims Godse made during his trial in the court in November 1948 – in which, besides taking the entire responsibility of Gandhi’s assassination upon himself, Godse tries to protect his master- Savarkar, in which he eventually succeeds.
According to Jha, this pre-trial statement has remained untapped because “Godse’s pre-trial statement is almost entirely missing (from the National Archives of India [NAI]) – only the first page of the English translation of his statement, which was originally recorded in Marathi, is catalogued”. Jha further notes that, “[The Marathi] version is often difficult to read, not only because of the language barrier that it creates for a non-Marathi researcher but also because it was written by hand using a pencil and is at times so faded that it cannot be deciphered without the help of a magnifying glass”.
The other important source that Jha cites to substantiate his claim of Godse’s association with RSS during Gandhi’s assassination is a report prepared by intelligence agencies based on the papers confiscated from the RSS headquarters in Nagpur in the aftermath of Gandhi’s assassination.
In light of this new evidence, Jha argues that Godse never “depart[ed] from the RSS after he became a member of the Hindu Mahasabha”. (p. 278)
Jha’s book is neatly divided into two parts. Part one, entitled Ploy, deals with the early life of Godse, and the orthodox background in which he was raised. This is followed by the evolution of his political thought, and the role played by Savarkar, both as a political guru and an inspiration, in shaping his world view. Part two, entitled Plot, details the conspiracy hatched to kill Gandhi, followed by actors who played a direct role in it, and the ideology and organisations that acted as facilitator in this nefarious act.
Transition from Ramachandra to Nathuram – Gandhi’s assassin
Godse had a childhood different from ordinary children. Before he was born, barring a daughter, three sons of Vinayakrao and Lakshmi had died in quick succession during their infancy. This, his parents believed, was happening because of some divine curse. Therefore, when Godse was born, his parents thought to bring him up as female in order to trick the fate. This trick, however, worked, and Nathuram survived. Godse played with girls of his age while he was growing up, and dressed in female clothes.
The Hindutva that Savarkar has conceptualised, which is quite different from the pluralistic Hinduism, is inflexible, and in its imagination, Muslims were described as chief aggressors. The politics of Hindutva post-1923 was just the application of the framework provided by Savarkar, endorsed by Hindu right organisations.
Commenting on this phase of Godse’s life, Jha observes that, “The conflicted feelings that emerged from this effeminizing in his childhood seems to have affected Godse for the rest of his life”. (p.8) With the passage of time, and Godse stepping into his adult life, he showed a “longing to be accepted in his idea of a masculin[ity]…” of which he had remained almost bereft until then. As Jha notes, “In his later life, [Godse] showed a reluctance to discuss his childhood in public, referring to these memories only obliquely”. (p.9)
Later, both in education – as Godse failed in his matriculation exam – and thereafter, in a number of odd vocations in which he tried his hands, did not turn out to be a great success. This disappointment, however, was coupled with the pressure to support his family, as his father, who was in the postal services, was inching towards retirement, and Godse was the eldest son among his siblings.
In short, an identity marked by virile masculinity and power always tempted the young Godse, owing to his childhood experience, and later, an anxiety-driven adult life. This aspiration, however, later gets redeemed, when Godse comes in contact with Savarkar. The taste of Hindutva politics, propounded by Savarkar, predicated mainly on chauvinism, bigotry, and anti-Muslim hatred, changed Godse’s life forever, as it gave both meaning and purpose to his life which hitherto has remained nondescript.
Savarkar and his ideology of Hindutva
Savarkar has remained both a contested and polarizing figure in the history of India. This is due to the sharp contradiction one observes when one studies the trajectory of his political thought, and its egregious evolution subsequently.
Savarkar, during his initial years, was considered to be a revolutionary nationalist, as one comes to know from his initial writings, especially the tract he wrote titled ‘The Indian War of Independence’ published in 1909 while he was studying law in London, in which he talked glowing about Hindu-Muslim unity.
The idea of Hindus and Muslims constituting two nations was first given by Savarkar. Later, the All-India Muslim League, with Jinnah at the driving seat, exploited this divisive idea to its hilt by playing with the anxieties of the Muslim elite.
This Savarkar – with an anti-British attitude, however, stands in stark contrast, when we look at the Savarkar, who authored ‘Essentials of Hindutva’ in 1923, while he was lodged in Cellular Jail, serving his term of fifty years for his involvement in the murder of A. Jackson, the Collector of Nashik. In this book, Savarkar mainly talks about the looming threat from eternal enemies, mainly Muslims, and pitches to prioritize cultural nationalism over territorial nationalism.
In short, the seeds to establish the Hindu Rashtra, and the ideological underpinning on how to achieve it, was first conceptualised in concrete terms by Savarkar. The Hindutva that Savarkar has conceptualised, which is quite different from the pluralistic Hinduism, is inflexible, and in its imagination, Muslims were described as chief aggressors.
The politics of Hindutva post-1923 was just the application of the framework provided by Savarkar, endorsed by Hindu right organisations.
Importantly, the romanticism of this kind of exclusive form of nationalism by Savarkar, around which the politics of the 1920s and thereafter was defined, keeping religion at its core, had a backdrop. In a way, Savarkar’s transition, which has been referred to above, was a calculated response to the emerging social and political reality of the time in order to keep both him and his political vision relevant.
to be continued…
