Mahatma Gandhi – Assassination and Dying Words
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009On January 30, 1948, on his way to a prayer meeting, Gandhi was shot dead in Birla House, New Delhi, by Nathuram Godse. Godse was a Hindu radical with alleged links to right-wing Hindu organisations, who held him responsible for weakening the new government by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan. Godse and his co-conspirator Narayan Apte were later tried and convicted, and executed on 15 November 1949. A prominent revolutionary and Hindu extremist, the president of the Mahasabha, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was accused of being the architect of the plot, but was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
It is indicative of Gandhi’s long struggle and search for God that his dying words were said to have been a homage to God, Rama: “He Ram!” (Oh God!). This is seen as an inspiring signal of his spirituality as well as his idealism regarding the possibility of a unifying peace. The words are inscribed upon his memorial called Raj Ghat in New Delhi. While some are skeptical of this, evidence from a number of witnesses supports the claim that he made this utterance. Some sources state that Gandhi’s last words were “He Ram, He Ram” or “Rama, Rama”. It has also been claimed that when Gandhi fell to the ground dying, he clasped his hands together in the form of the ‘namasthe’.
Soon after, Jawaharlal Nehru announced Gandhi’s death with the words:
“Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not for me only, but for millions and millions in this country.”
