An excerpt from a Wikipedia Article on the Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
The Martyr's Column at the Gandhi Smriti, (Birla House), the spot where Gandhi was assassinated.After the failed attempt at Birla House, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte returned to Pune via Mumbai (Bombay). With the help of Dr. Dattatraya Parchure and Gangadhar Dandavate, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte purchased a Beretta Semi-automatic firearm and eleven rounds of ammunition at Gwalior and reached Delhi on January 29, 1948, checking into the Retiring room No. 6 at Delhi Railway Station. On January 30, 1948, at 5:17 p.m., Nathuram Godse got close enough to Mahatma Gandhi and shot him three times in his chest at point-blank range.Shri Dharam Jit Jigyasu gave an account of the events to Muni Jaitly, his grandson, in 2000. He was standing next to the assassin, Nathuram Godse, when all who were present kneeled before Gandhi to greet him.
Godse shot Gandhi three times. Dharam Jit Jigyasu heard Gandhi utter the words, "Hai [Oh] ... Hai ... Hai " as he hit the ground
Controversy over last words
The last word(s) uttered by Mahatma Gandhi are still a matter of debate. Venkita Kalyanam, former personal assistant to Mr. Gandhi, said that he was present at the spot and that Gandhi said "oh God".
...suddenly a man, who was later identified as Nathu Ram Godse took steps out of the crowd and fired three shots at Mahatma. Bullets hit him on the stomach and chest. Mahatma fell down saying Ram-Ram...
– Nand Lal Mehta, in the First Information Report recorded on January 30, 1948, at 9.45 p.m.
In the First Information Report[4] there is no statement that any doctor was called. There has been no explanation of why he was not rushed to hospital and was instead taken to Birla House, where he died later.
Conspirators
Nathuram Vinayak Godse
Narayan Dattatraya Apte
Vishnu Ramkrishna Karkare
Madanlal Kashmirilal Pahwa
Shankar Kistaiya
Gopal Vinayak Godse
Digambar Ramchandra Badge
Dattatraya Sadashiv Parchure
Gangadhar Dandavate
Gangadhar Jadhao
Suryadeo Sharma
Z
End
Second exerpt from Wikipedia (a different Article)
On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was shot while he was walking to a platform from which he was to address a prayer meeting. The assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan. Godse and his co-conspirator Narayan Apte were later tried and convicted; they were executed on 15 November 1949. Gandhi's memorial (or Samādhi) at Rāj Ghāt, New Delhi, bears the epigraph "Hē Ram", (Devanagari: हे ! राम or, He Rām), which may be translated as "Oh God". These are widely believed to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement has been disputed. Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation through radio:
"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 only for me, but for millions and millions in this country." - Jawaharlal Nehru's address to GandhiGandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services. Most were immersed at the Sangam at Allahabad on 12 February 1948 but some were secretly taken away. In 1997, Tushar Gandhi immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sangam at Allahabad. On 30 January 2008 the contents of another urn were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty by the family after a Dubai-based businessman had sent it to a Mumbai museum. Another urn has ended up in a palace of the Aga Khan in Pune (where he had been imprisoned from 1942 to 1944) and another in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles. The family is aware that these enshrined ashes could be misused for political purposes but does not want to have them removed because it would entail breaking the shrines.
End
Let me say, right in the beginning, I was born 10 days before Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi was murdered, on January 20, 1948, he was murdered on the 30th. I am neither Indian, nor Hindu, (but was a practicing Buddist for years of the 70's and retain much of that in my current life). I said that so that people would understand that I don't pretend to know everything, or anything, other than what I've read and believe, and that it's simply my opinion when I say with conviction, that the Mahatma was definitely a saint, in every sense of the word, even more he was possibly, probably, a savior on a level with Jesus, Budda, Mohammed, and many others of whom we know nothing. I saw a movie today that I've watched probably fifty times since the first time I saw it, in my twenties. It was 9 hours to Rama. It is a fictionalized account of the nine hours (with flashbacks) leading up to the murder. I have excerpted above two Wikipedia accounts of the actual event. But knowing the movie is fictional to a large degree, doesn't matter. It still, every time I see it, brings tears to my eyes when the Mahatma is shot and falling, his murderer is struck with horror at what he's done, as Gandhi looks at him and says "I forgive you my brother. Hey Ram..." Nobody knows for sure, or if they do aren't telling, what he did or didn't say. All I know for sure is that a great, great soul left this world and went home.
Lee Murray
No comments:
Post a Comment