Nathuram Godse and his reasons behind the action of killing Mahatma Gandhi

Unlike all the Indians, Nathuram Vinayak Godse had a different point of view about the actions and ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi that led him to make up his mind to eliminate Mahatma Gandhi forever. The rationality of why Nathuram Godse took such a bold decision still remains a mystery.

At the court - Nathuram Godse (on the extreme left); image source: The Hindu

Civil disobedience movement, led by Gandhi Ji; Source: wikipedia

Mahatma Gandhi's views on Non - Violence; Source: Indiatvnews

Civil disobedience movement, led by Gandhi Ji; Source: wikipedia

Mahatma Gandhi's views on Non - Violence; Source: Indiatvnews

Nathuram Vinayak Godse (1910-1949) was the son of Vinayak Vamanrao Godse and Lakshmi, born in a Konkani Brahmin Family in Pune, Maharashtra. He was an active member of RSS (Rashtriya Swatamsevak Sangh) and Hindu Mahasabha who later became the editor of a Marathi newspaper called Agrani - Hindu Rashtra.

A small story goes behind his name 'Nathuram'. His name was Ramchandra when he was born, but was changed to Nathuram to keep away from a premonition. There were three elder brothers of Nathuram, and all of them died due to some mishap. In order to ward away the curse that targeted male children, his parents treated him like a girl until his younger brother Gopal was born. Even so that his nose was pierced and he was made to wear a nose ring. Thus, the name Nathuram meant a man with a nose ring (Nath - nose ring in Marathi and Ram - man).

Godse finished his primary school studies in the local school of Baramati, where he was born. Later he went to an English medium school in Pune but did not complete high school. During the Independence movement, he became an active activist.

Born and brought up in a Hindu brahmin family influenced his thoughts about Hinduism. He found a proactive way of eliminating the caste system and untouchability which was to take part in anti-caste dinners where all would dine together irrespective of caste or religion. The ideologies and theories of eminent personalities like Dadabhai Naoroji, Gokhale, and Tilak marked an imprint on him. The readings and influences moulded his thoughts to serve Hinduism. He thought that Hinduism can bring Independence to India his motherland and even safeguard it following it he actively participated in the freedom movement.

In spite of all that he did, we remember Nathuram Godse as an assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. What went wrong that led him to take such a bold step? Let us try to learn why Nathuram become so desperate that he did not even care for his own life.

It was somewhat surprising to know that when he was a young activist he followed the ideologies of Gandhi Ji and made Veer Savarkar his guru. As most of the people of India followed Gandhi Ji, he too did the same when he was young. But as he gained experience and grew older his views changed. He couldn't stand the fact of being non-violent. His logic was if we need to protect the truth, we need to fight for it, nothing can be achieved just by keeping quiet. Whereas Gandhi Ji preached, nothing can be attained by resorting to violence, people can settle their disagreements by coming to a solution in the best interest of both. This is what he called Non-violence.

Later, there were several movements for our Independence. Slowly, the Muslim League was formed and there was so much going around. Bangladesh was partitioned, and the Muslim League too demanded a separate state. People were mad about India's Independence. Amidst all these, Nathuram's confidence in Gandhi Ji's preachings and goals took a back seat.

Nathuram too was a freedom fighter, he too wanted his motherland to be free. However, there were certain facts that were not accepted by him and added to his hatred towards Gandhi Ji and his ideologies. This left him with no option other than to put an end to Mahatma Gandhi. After Gandhi Ji's death, Nthuram Godse was on trial. He was given an opportunity to read his statement about what led him to take such an extreme step.

According to Nathuram, it was only Hinduism that could help India to become Independent. Mahatma Gandhi also had no bias toward religion before the muslim league was formed. But after its formation, according to Nathuram, Gandhi Ji showed some bias. Nathuram was very much annoyed that the Congress leaders, especially Gandhi Ji were too much in favour of the Muslims. He even did not like Gandhi Ji's pro-Muslim fast. Gandhi Ji had a subjective mentality which meant he and only he can be the person whom everyone will look up to. People will have to follow what Gandhi Ji preached. Nathuram Godse could not hold himself back when India got partitioned into Pakistan and none of the congress leaders could avoid it from being created, he blamed Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru for the partition. Nathuram said that he had dreamt of an independent India, not a partitioned India. His fury grew, even more, when he felt that the language 'Hindi' is not being promoted as the main language during that time. It was 'Hindustani' and Nathuram thought that this was another way to please the Muslims. All these facts compelled Nathuram to believe that Mahatma Gandhi will ruin India's politics. According to Nathuram Godse, India would be grown to its fullest if Mahatma Gandhi was not present. The killing of Mahatma Gandhi ruined Nathuram Godse's image as a freedom fighter. He still remains an assassin.

Till today there is no transparency whether it was a conspiracy by Nathuram Godse and his team or just an impulsive decision made by Nathuram himself. Can we really say whether eliminating Mahatma Gandhi has been a boon to India ? Or it was a mistake in the history of India. Everything is a mystery.