BHUBANESWAR: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 71st death anniversary, the world remembers timeless ideas espoused by the great soul during his lifetime. Odia historian and author Anil Dhir is about to release a book on Nathuram Godse, the assassinator of Mahatma. In a brief interaction with Orissa Post, he threw light on his work.
“Just as I wish that Gandhi’s ‘The Story of My Experiments With Truth’ should be made a compulsory read for every Indian schoolchild, Godse’s ‘Why I killed Gandhi’ too should be read by every Indian. If not the entire book, at least his last statement given in court should be known to every Indian. Few people know and understand the real Godse. I make no attempts to justify his deed or support his ideology, but there is so much untold and hidden, which should be revealed,” he said.
He added, “I was in Pune last week. I spent time with Satyaki Savarkar, the grandson of Veer Savarkar and Ajinkya Godse, Nathuram Godse’s grandnephew. Ajinkya has the silver urn in which the ashes of Nathuram Godse are kept along with the original handwritten will. The Bhagvad Gita which was held in Godse’s hand when he was hanged was returned by the jail authorities. His personal effects, including the clothes he wore during the assassination are preserved in a small private crypt.”
“Most Indians believe that Nathuram Godse was a Hindu fanatic which is absolutely wrong. Over the last three years, I have spent days with the Savarkar and Godse families at Pune. Himani Savarkar, the daughter-in-law of Veer Savarkar, the niece of Nathuram Godse and the daughter of Gopal Godse spent a week with me at Bhubaneswar a couple of years ago,” he said.
“I have heard numerous accounts from the last few surviving people who knew Savarkar and Gopal Godse. Himani Savarkar was on a mission to get the writings of both Savarkar and Godse translated, but her untimely death put an end to things. She had entrusted me with many facts, documents, writings and I hope to complete my book within the next couple of years,” he said.
Godse’s five hour statement made in Court was proscribed by the Government of India. He had never appealed against his conviction for murder nor did the sentence of death pass on him. He had appealed only on the conspiracy charges.
GD Khosla, the former Chief Justice of Punjab, who had heard Godse’s appeal, believed that Godse’s performance in defending himself for the assassination was the only worthwhile part of the lengthy proceedings. He noted that Godse was so immaculate in his arguments that if the verdict had been left to the audience, Godse would have gone scot-free for his murder of Gandhi.
“Is Gandhian non-violence really understood by the average Indian today? Does history say that we got our Independence without violence? Then what was that what happened to the refugees during the partition? And what is that we still face when we get our young soldiers back in coffins, both from the border and within, killed by home bred ultras. And there are political scams involved in these coffins too. The nation has paid and is still paying dearly with blood and violence,” he said.
