Nathuram Godse (The Story of an Assassin)

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In the history of India we rarely come across the story of a person who died an untimely death, who's brother suffered a life of immense mental torture and a person whose family faced countless abuses and humiliations. What for? Yes, for no other cause than the love for his motherland. This person is Nathuram Vinayakrao Godse, India's most hated criminal. A person, who could not bear to see the partition of his country taking place before his own eyes, a person who could not see his fellow countrymen being butchered like slaughter cows.

But does this gross act of injustice to the people of India and the callous disregard for the sentiments of millions of Indians justify Nathuram Godse's action? What inspired, Nathuram Godse to decide on January 12 that he must turn into a killer? What was Narayan Apte's, Vishnu Karkare's, Madanlal Pahwa's and Gopal Godse's role in the conspiracy? Was there an involvement of an outsider in the assassination of Gandhi? On whose instructions was Savarkar arrested and implicated in this crime? Could this murder have been prevented by the police? Was a very influential organization involved in this crime? How did Digambar Badge turn approver? There are many question that raise eyebrows. Our children are taught in school that Gandhi was killed and not why Nathuram Godse killed him.

In order to seek answers to these questions, it was necessary to take a close look at the sequence of events that may have influenced Nathuram Godse to commit this crime. Hence, this story has been narrated through the view point of Nathuram Godse himself. The motive behind writing this book is not to demean the Mahatma nor glorify his assassin but, uncover this myth that Gandhiji was a victim of religious fanaticism.

Anup Sardesai (b.1971) hails from the province of Goa, on the west coast of India. An engineer by profession, he has carried out extensive research on the 'Religio-Political Problems in Modern India' without the support of any institution. This is his second book. His first book, 'Mahatma's Blunders' was released in June 2015.

On 30th January 1948, at 5.17pm 1ST, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi or Gandhiji, was brutally shot dead as he was walking towards his prayer ground at the Birla House, Delhi. His assassin, Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a resident of Poona, was arrested at the scene of the crime and sentenced to death by hanging after a trial that lasted for over a year.

Almost seven decades have passed since the apostle of peace was assassinated but, even today, the story of his murder continues to attract widespread attention. It is also one of the most closely guarded secrets in Indian history. The Government of India has used all its discretionary powers to suppress information pertaining to the Mahatma's murder and has made the people of India to believe in a fictional cooked up theory that the motive behind the Mahatma's assassination was religious fanaticism.

The Left leaning political organizations has effectively used this religious fanaticism theory to attack the Right Wing political organizations and derive maximum political mileage from the Mahatma's murder. However, in the process of serving their own political interests, these politicos have canonized Nathuram Godse into a martyr who laid down his life for the sake of Hinduism and branded Gandhiji as a Hindu hater.

I have been studying the mystery behind the Mahatma's murder for a very long time and I have found no evidence to say that this murder was an act of religious fanaticism. In fact, Nathuram Godse, Gandhiji's assassin does not have any past record of indulging in communal violence or religious fanaticism.

Hinduism, unlike other religions is not prophesied. It may have certain orthodox and conservative elements but, it does not preach extremism like other religions. However, times are changing. Today, Hinduism has found a prophet in the form of Nathuram Godse who is being idolized into an icon of militant Hindutva. A number of fringe groups are extensively promoting their extremist ideology in the name of Nathuram Godse and the younger generation of this country is falling prey to such propaganda.

At a time when this country is going through chaotic times and when its 'so-called' Gandhiian politicians have lost the confidence of the masses, Nathuram Godse is being looked upon as an alternative to the Gandhiian ideology. As a result, the followership of Nathuram Godse is increasing with each passing day. Thus, it has become necessary to unearth the truth behind this religious fanaticism theory.

This book NATHURAM GODSE - THE STORY OF AN ASSASSIN' intends to do just that. With information outsourced from various books on the Mahatma's murder, I have made a sincere effort to derive the real motive behind the Mahatma's murder and narrate the story from Nathuram Godse's viewpoint.

This book covers the entire lifespan of Nathuram Godse, from his birth till the day he was hanged. During my visit to Poona, I spoke to members of the Godse family and gathered valuable information about Nathuram Godse

. The motive behind writing this book is neither to denigrate the Mahatma nor to glorify his assassin but to uncover the truth that his murder was not an act of religious fanaticism.

**Contents and Sample Pages**