Mahatma Gandhi death anniversary special: Why the body of Nathuram Godse was not given to the family

New Delhi: Nathuram Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi on 30 January 1948. Gandhiji was in a prayer meeting when Godse opened three bullets at him/her. Bapu’s murder trial began on 22 June 1948 at the Red Fort in Delhi. Investigation revealed that the murder was already done under a conspiracy. On 10 February 1949, the judge sentenced Godse and Narayan Apte to death. The rest of the accused- Gopal Godse, Vishnu Karkare, Madanlal Pahwa, Shankar Kistaiya and Dattatreya Parachure were sentenced to life imprisonment. Another accused Veer Savarkar was acquitted due to lack of evidence. The government did not challenge this decision.Angered by policies: On 14 February 1949, all the convicts appealed to the Punjab High Court (then in Shimla). Godse accepted his/her death sentence, but questioned the conspiracy allegations. he/she told the court that Gandhiji’s policies were harmful to the country, so he/she murdered him/her. Justice GD Khosla, who retired from the post of Chief Justice of Punjab High Court, has written the book ‘Murder of the Mahatma’. According to him/her, those who conspired to kill Bapu believed that Gandhiji’s inclination in favor of Muslims was harmful to the country.

Pakistan’s help: Mahatma Gandhi intervened in the Noakhali riots and sat on a hunger strike in 1948 to give Rs 55 crore to Pakistan. Due to both these incidents, resentment towards him/her was further increased. Godse was confident that Pakistan’s support for economic rights and efforts to establish peace with Muslims was a threat to Hindu interests.

Emotional speech: Godse gave a long speech during the appeal hearing on 2 May 1949. he/she alleged that Gandhiji’s policies led to the partition of the country. he/she also said that due to Mahatma Gandhi, the importance of heroes like Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Govind Singh was underestimated. he/she said, ‘I knew that my life would be completely ruined and people will hate me. … But I also felt that without Gandhiji, Indian politics would be practical, capable of answering, and will become powerful with the armed forces. ‘ Justice GD Khosla has written that Godse’s speech had a profound impact on the people sitting there. They became emotional, some had tears in their eyes. If those people were a jury, perhaps they would not blame Godse.

Hanged in strict watch: On 15 November 1949, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were hanged in Ambala Central Jail. However, the bodies of both were not handed over to their families. Two special reports were published on 13 and 16 November 1949 in our colleague toi. According to these reports, the government had already decided that the administration would cremate the dead bodies after the hanging. It was also decided that the public or family would not get a chance to join this process. It was very strict during the hanging and funeral.

For unity: for: The government did not want Godse and Apte to be glorified. The bodies were not handed over so that the radical elements could not perform any kind of performance on its pretext. This decision was also associated with restoring peace and order. The country was going through the pain of partition at that time. In such a situation, there was a need to maintain communal harmony and unity.