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Showing posts with label Godse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Godse. Show all posts
May 09, 2024
May 14, 2023
India: Doyens of Hindutva - Collections of essays on Savarkar, Godse, Golwalkar, Mohan Bhagwat, S Gurumurthy | The Caravan
On
28 May, the Maharashtra government—a coalition of the Shiv Sena and the
Bharatiya Janata Party—will celebrate the birth anniversary of the
Hindu nationalist demagogue VD Savarkar as Swatantraveer Gaurav Din,
perpetuating a tradition among the Hindu Right of lionising him as a
freedom fighter despite his marginal role in the anticolonial struggle.
This month also includes the birthday of Nathuram Godse, who
assassinated MK Gandhi in 1948. Hindutva groups have sought to
rehabilitate Godse’s reputation, with the Hindu Mahasabha commemorating
his birth anniversary in recent years.
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As the Hindu Right celebrates its most controversial figures, read a selection of longform essays and reportage from The Caravan’s archives on a few doyens of Hindutva.
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Abhay
Regi argues that “the deification of Savarkar has been an outcome of
the constant writing and rewriting of his life.” This project is active
today also, as evident in two recent biographies by Vikram Sampath and
Vaibhav Purandare. Regi turns to a 1926 book, The Life of Barrister Savarkar,
to understand Savarkar’s political legacy, “including his urge towards
primal violence and the anti-intellectualism that undergirds his
thinking.”
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Dhirendra
K Jha examines archival documents that prove Godse never gave up his
RSS membership, contrary to the Sangh’s disavowal of Gandhi’s assassin.
“The story of Godse’s life reveals a constant and inextricable link with
the RSS,” Jha writes. “Radicalised at an early age by Savarkar himself,
Godse inhabited an environment constantly pushed him towards a certain
kind of politics.”
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Hartosh Singh Bal’s 2017 profile of Golwalkar—the second sarsanghchalak,
or supreme leader of the RSS—and his continuing influence on India,
with Modi being a staunch admirer of the Sangh ideologue. Bal notes
that, in We or Our Nationhood Defined, Golwalkar unambiguously compares the project of promoting a Hindu culture with German antisemitism.
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Jha
delves deeper into the Sangh’s imitation of the Nazis, noting how many
RSS members were enamoured with European fascists in the late 1930s and
1940s. “Contemporary accounts suggest that, during this period,
Golwalkar sought to turn the RSS into a Nazi-style militia, with the
goal of eventually installing himself as führer.”
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Dinesh Narayanan’s May 2014 profile of Bhagwat, the current sarsanghchalak,
whom he defined at the time as “perhaps the only person who has
publicly checked Modi without experiencing any political fallout.”
Narayanan writes that Bhagwat “is immensely influential, but he does not
unilaterally impose his will on the BJP or on his own organisation.”
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Eight
years after Narayanan’s profile, Jha explains, in the November 2022
issue, how Modi has tilted the balance of power within the Sangh Parivar
in the BJP’s favour, leaving Bhagwat, and the RSS, in a position where
they are obeying instructions instead of issuing them. Ramesh Shiledar
told Jha that Bhagwat was “a man of mediocre qualities and would succumb
to any and every pressure that would be exerted on him.”
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Sujatha
Sivagnanam’s April 2023 profile of S Gurumurthy, who often shies away
from the limelight despite his oversized impact on India in the past
fifty years. “The vision he has shaped through these institutions,”
Sivagnanam writes, “is central to the RSS’s core tenets and his own
upbringing: the establishment of Brahmin influence over political and
economic life.” |
April 30, 2023
India: True History - Gandhi Murder, Godse and RSS | Ram Puniyani
https://www.newsclick.in/true-
True History: Gandhi Murder, Godse and RSS
Ram Puniyani
Recently (April 2023), the NCERT decided to make many deletions from School text books. Apart from the parts related to Mughal history, the mention of Gujarat violence and the origin of Caste Varna system, what stands deleted is also a part related to Gandhi murder, “His (Gandhi’s) steadfast pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists so much that they made several attempts to assassinate Gandhiji… Gandhiji’s death had an almost magical effect on the communal situation in the country… The Government of India cracked down on organizations that were spreading communal hatred. Organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh were banned for some time…” How do we see these deletions? And the deletion that Godse is referred to as Hindu extremist, a Brahmin needs to be understood.
One recalls that murder of Swami Shraddhanad was done by a Muslim Abdul Rashid. Gandhi condemned the murder but addressed Rashid as brother and said that he should not be blamed for this murder; instead those who created the atmosphere of hate should be blamed. On the same lines Gandhi and his disciple, Sardar Patel in particular, saw Godse being the manifestation of Hate prevalent in the society.
Of course Gandhi was not there to opine about Godse after his murder but his attitude to the dastardly act became clear when in 1944 Godse tried to attack him with a dagger in Panchagani near Pune. The incident was, “During a prayer meeting that evening, Nathuram Godse, dressed in a Nehru shirt, pajama and jacket, rushed towards Gandhi. He was brandishing a dagger in his hand and shouting anti-Gandhi slogans. Godse was overpowered…” and Gandhi was saved. In response Gandhi “asked Godse to spend eight days with him so that they could understand each other. Godse rejected this invitation and was allowed to go free by a magnanimous Gandhi.” In both the case of Abdul Rashid and Godse, Gandhi’s response seems to be on the same page.
As for Gandhi blaming Hate as the cause of murder in the case of Swami Shraddhanand, the same view was taken by Gandhi’s disciple Sardar Patel, who banned RSS. Some mistakenly believe that it was on the insistence of Nehru that RSS was banned. The real fact is revealed by the communiqué issues by the Government. Just to recall Sardar Patel was the Home Minister at that time.
In a communiqué issued on February 4, 1948, the Central government said it was banning the RSS “to root out the forces of hate and violence that are at work in our country and imperil the freedom of the Nation and darken her fair name… It has been found that in several parts of the country individual members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity, and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunition. They have been found circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and the military.”
In a letter to M.S. Golwalkar, Patel writes, “All their speeches (RSS members, added) were filled with communal poison… As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji. Even an iota of the sympathy of the Government, or of the people, no more remained for the RSS. In face opposition grew. Opposition turned more severe, when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s death.”
RSS propagates that mentioning the ban on RSS is half truth as the ban was lifted by courts as being illegal. The Paragraph which has been deleted precisely mentions that ban was imposed for sometime only. As such from Gandhi to Patel and Nehru they all realized that more than Godse as a person it is the Hate which is responsible for the violence, including that of murder of Swami Shraddhanand and later of Gandhi. While RSS ban was not valid on legal ground, its ban was prompted by RSS spreading the Hate which led to violence and murders, including that of Mahatma Gandhi. While paying lip service to Mahatma, RSS continues to do what it began, spreading Hate against Muslims and at the same time glorifying the old hierarchical society.
The Hate which Godse imbibed was from RSS to begin with, Godse writes, “Having worked for the uplift of the Hindus I felt it necessary to take part in political activities of the country for the protection of just rights of Hindus. I therefore left the Sangh (RSS) and joined Hindu Mahasabha.” (Godse, ‘Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi’ 1993, and Pg. 102). He held Mahatma responsible for appeasing Muslims, and thereby the formation of Pakistan. He joined Hindu Mahasabha, at that time the only political party of Hindutva, and became general secretary of its Pune Branch. In due course he first started a newspaper, as founder editor, called Agrani (leader) and later another one called Hindu Rashtra. And undoubtedly mentioning him as a Brahmin is not unwarranted as Brahmins were at the forefront of Hindu Nationalist politics, to begin with.
Understanding hate imbibed by Abdul Rashid and Godse in today’s context will mean that those youth who are waving lathis, swords and pistol in the religious processions are guilty of course but the bigger blame has to be apportioned to the indoctrination of Hate ideology, hate speech and the social media which is constantly blaring the Hate against religious minorities. Looking in the neighborhood it confirms that nationalism in the name of religion is the main weapon which is creating and propagating Hate. In a way we are following the path of Pakistan and Srilanka. In Pakistan (Islamic Nationalism) the Hate manufactured against Hindus and Christians did result in their persecution there. In Srilanka (Buddhist Sinhala Nationalism) Hindus (Tamils) and Muslim- Christians, have been on the receiving end of consequences of Hate.
Now with these deletions in text books those upholding Hindu nationalism and their advocates are further intensifying the Hate which has led to so many acts of violence, have led to marginalization of minorities further culminating in Ghettoes which are proliferating in various localities. Defending the deletions, particularly related to Gandhi murder and role of RSS is yet another attempt to deepen the divisive agenda dominating at present.
March 31, 2023
India: Portrait of Gandhi's assassin Godse at during a Ram Navami religions procession led by BJP leader T Raja Singh in Hyderabad
Ram Navami: Godse's picture displayed during Shobha Yatra in Hyderabad
A portrait of Gandhi's assassin Godse was displayed during a Ram Navami procession led by BJP leader T Raja Singh
February 18, 2023
February 02, 2023
After Gandhi's Assassination, Nehru Saw the Hindu Right as a Threat to the Indian State | Mridula Mukherjee
The Wire - 30/Jan/2023
This year on January 30 will be exactly 75 years to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination at the hands of those against his message of non-violence and fierce defence of a syncretic India. In a series of articles and videos, The Wire takes stock of Gandhi’s murder, and delves deeper into the forces and ideas behind independent India’s first act of terror. Recent years have seen another attempt to kill Gandhi, his ideas, spirit and message. We hope to help unpack where India stands today and its future, through the lens of how the Father of the Nation’s legacy is being treated.
In little over six months after the tragedy of the Partition of India, on January 30, 1948, another tragedy visited the fledgling state. If Partition could largely be ascribed to Muslim communalism, aided by colonialism, then Hindu communalism bears the responsibility for the assassination of the “greatest living Hindu”. In Nehru’s words
:
“Communalism resulted not only in the division of the country, which inflicted a deep wound in the heart of the people which will take a long time to heal if it ever heals but also assassination of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.”
Gandhi’s assassination was a premeditated act. In November 1947, Karyanand Sharma, the CPI kisan leader from Bihar, had warned that the demand for a Hindu Raj “was very bad and behind it there was a conspiracy to murder Gandhiji and Panditji”
. Gandhi himself understood the true nature of the abortive attempt that was made on his life on January 20, 1948. When a co-worker wondered if the bomb blast was accidental, he replied: “The fool; don’t you see, there is a terrible and widespread conspiracy behind it?”
In his presidential address to the Hindu Mahasabha in 1937
, V.D. Savarkar, the creator of the concept of Hindutva, the first to propound the two-nation theory, and the organiser of the conspiracy to murder the Mahatma, declared: “India cannot be assumed today to be an unitarian and homogenous nation, but on the contrary there are two nations in the main, Hindus and Muslims, in India.” He refers to “centuries of a cultural, religious and national antagonism between the Hindus and the Moslems”. The title of the section in which the above statements are made is, ‘As it is there are two antagonistic nations living side by side in India.’ India is not a nation but it is the name of the state in which these two nations exist.
On August 15, 1947, two nation-states were born. One of them, Pakistan, could be said to conform to Savarkar’s definition of nation, but the one to which he belonged, India, was stubbornly refusing to fall in line. The biggest obstacle, it seemed, was the Mahatma himself. He had to be removed. With him alive, neither Hindu rashtra nor Akhand Bharat could become a reality.
There is consensus that it was an extreme wing of the Hindu Mahasabha led by Savarkar that was behind Gandhi’s murder
. In January 1948, when Gandhi was assassinated, Savarkar was arrested as the mastermind behind the conspiracy. He was eventually exonerated in the Gandhi murder trial for lack of evidence to corroborate the testimony of the approver, a technical point of criminal law. Sardar Patel, being a fine criminal lawyer, was personally convinced of Savarkar’s guilt, otherwise he would not have agreed to put him up for trial. He told Jawaharlal Nehru in unambiguous terms:
“It was a fanatical wing of the Hindu Mahasabha directly under Savarkar that [hatched] the conspiracy and saw it through.”
When the Commission of Inquiry set up in 1965 under Justice Jiwan Lal Kapoor, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, gave its report, it came to the following conclusion
[ . . .] FULL TEXT HERE
January 31, 2023
India: There is cult developing around Nathuram Godse, the Hindu extremist who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948 | DW
There is cult developing around Nathuram Godse, the Hindu extremist who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948. Statues of the assassin have been erected, and in some places, Hindu temples have been converted to commemorate Godse.
https://twitter.com/dw_hotspotasia/status/1620361370402258944
January 29, 2023
August 16, 2022
India: In Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh .. far right Hindutva outfit Hindu Mahasabha took out a rally on 15 Aug 2022 with the picture of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.
Location : Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
On the occasion of independence day, far right Hindutva outfit Hindu Mahasabha took out a rally with the picture of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.
https://twitter.com/HindutvaWatchIn/status/1559396100838027264
June 07, 2022
India: Karnataka road named after Gandhi assassin Godse, removed after criticism
Karnataka road named after Gandhi assassin Godse, removed after criticism
The signboard, put up in Bola grama panchayat of Karkala taluk, had the same colours and fonts as generally used by zilla panchayats across the state.
February 11, 2022
Film on Godse's Murder of Gandhi: Falsehoods Galore | Ram Puniyani
https://www.southasiamonitor.org/perspective/film-godses-killing-gandhi-falsehoods-galore:
Film on Godse’s Killing of Gandhi: Falsehoods Galore
Ram Puniyani
The film has “Why I killed Gandhi” was recently released. It is an attempt to glorify Nathuram Godse the killer of Mahatma Gandhi. One of its clip, the one related to Godse’s Testimony in Punjab High court is doing rounds in the social media.
In the long clip Godse unabashedly falsifies the events and gives them a communal slant. It has already been popularized that Gandhi did nothing to save the life of revolutionary Bhagat Singh. This has been planted in the minds of large sections despite the farewell speech of Viceroy Lord Irwin. He corroborates Gandhi’s statements that he earnestly pleaded for commutation of the sentences. Irwin (26th March 1931) states, “…As I listened the other day to Mr. Gandhi putting the case for commutation forcibly before me, I reflected first of what significance it surely was that the apostle of non-violence should so earnestly be pleading the cause of the devotees of a creed so fundamentally opposite to his own, but I should regard it as wholly wrong to allow my judgment on these matters to be influenced or deflected by purely political considerations. I could imagine no case in which under the law penalty had been more directly deserved."
Now Godse in his deposition states that Gandhi was writing against revolutionaries and despite his opposition Congress convention passed the resolution praising the sacrifice and patriotism of Bhagat Singh. The truth is that the resolution praising Bhagat Singh was drafted by Gandhi himself, “This Congress, while dissociating itself from and disapproving of political violence in any shape or form, places on record its admiration of the bravery and sacrifice of the late Sardar Bhagat Singh and his comrades Sukhdev and Rajguru, and mourns with the bereaved families the loss of these lives. The Congress is of opinion that this triple execution is an act of wanton vengeance and is a deliberate flouting of the unanimous demand of the nation for commutation.”
In an attempt to create a binary between revolutionaries and Gandhi, Godse also forgets the attempts by Gandhi to get Savarkar Brothers released. In Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Volume 20, pages 369-371 we can read an article in which he argues that Savarkar brothers should be released and be allowed to participate in the political life of the country in non violent way.
Now Godse in this clip pitches Gandhi against Bose. It is true that Gandhi and Bose had differed on many issues but both were committed to get Independence for India. Gandhi did oppose his President ship in 1939. Bose was arguing that we should ally with Germany and Japan to fight against British. Gandhi was arguing for struggle against British to get Independence. Most of the Central Committee of Congress was with Gandhi. Still Gandhi and Bose had highest respect for each other. Bose was happy to know about launch of Quit India movement. Bose also sought Bapu’s blessings for success of Azad Hind Fauz (AHF). As a mark of respect he coined “Father of the nation’ for Gandhi and also named a battalion in AHF as Gandhi battalion.
Gandhi’s respect for Bose was not diminished a bit, as he called him “Prince among Patriots”, and went to meet the AHF prisoners in jail.
As a part of the RSS-Hindu Mahasabha propaganda Godse accuses Gandhi as being pro Muslim- Anti Hindu and holds him responsible for partition of the country. We know the complex process of partition, British policy of ‘divide and rule’ and this being assisted by Muslim and Hindu Communalists. Godse’s praise for Subhash Bose is like shedding Crocodile tears. When Bose was fighting against British, his party Hindu Mahasabha was actively aiding British by recruiting the people for British army. Godse’s paper Agrani carried a cartoon depicting Mahatma Gandhi as Ravan, one of the ten heads being Bose, being slayed by Savarkar. And if he was really convinced by revolutionaries’ path what stopped him to join AHF?
He accuses Gandhi of forcing the Government for giving 55 Crores to Pakistan. This 55 Crores belonged to the share of Pakistan from the joint treasury. And Gandhi did not go to fast for that, he opined that if we back out from such commitments, how the World will look at us?
Godse is scathing on Gandhi for putting one of the conditions in his fast being vacating the mosques and other properties of Muslims occupied by Hindus. As the tragedy of partition unfolded communal violence started gripping the nation and with the help of communal forces Hindus occupied the properties of Muslims, including mosques. Godse dares Gandhi to take similar steps against Pakistan and Muslims. He deliberately undermines the fact that one of the major steps taken by Gandhi at that time was to quell the riots in Noakhali, where Hindus were major victims. He had similar appeal for Pakistan. Gandhi believed that if the safety of the Muslims was assured in India, he would be able to go to Pakistan and do a great deal for Hindus-Sikhs there.
His emphasis for peace was a clear act of morality, “If we are able to accomplish this in Delhi I assure you that our way will become absolutely clear in Pakistan. And with that will commence a new life. When I go to Pakistan I will not let them off easily. I will die for the Hindus and Sikhs there.”
The lie of lies in this Court statement is that it was Godse alone who planned the murer. Initially Sardar Patel stated that Gandhi murder was a part of Hindu Mahsabha plot and later Jeevan Lal Kapoor Commission observed, "All these facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group."
The real motive of murdering Gandhi was that Gandhi was for inclusive Nationalism, the dream of revolutionaries; Bhagat Singh-Bose included; and for Gandhi’s attempts to work against untouchability and caste inequality. Godse’s Hindu nationalism was opposed to both. The falsehoods being dished out are a cover for his deeper agenda.
January 10, 2022
India: Book reveiw of Dhirendra K Jha's book 'Godse killed Gandhi as an RSS man' | Ajaz Ashraf
Godse killed Gandhi as an RSS man
Updated on: 10 January,2022 07:34 AM IST | Mumbai
Ajaz Ashraf
In Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse And His Idea of India, journalist Dhirendra K Jha nails the lie that Godse had left the RSS long before he assassinated Mahatma Gandhi
The backlash against the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30,
1948, prompted the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to declare, on February
1, that his assassin Nathuram Godse was “never connected in any way
with” the organisation. During the Gandhi murder trial, Godse told the
court he left the RSS to join the Hindu Mahasabha as he wanted to fight
for the “just rights” of Hindus.
A myth was thus spawned.
The backlash against the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948, prompted the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to declare, on February 1, that his assassin Nathuram Godse was “never connected in any way with” the organisation. During the Gandhi murder trial, Godse told the court he left the RSS to join the Hindu Mahasabha as he wanted to fight for the “just rights” of Hindus.
A myth was thus spawned.
This myth was bolstered by American researcher J A Curran Jr, who, in 1951, claimed Godse had joined the RSS in 1930 and left it in 1934 to become a member of the Hindu Mahasabha. The reason, Curran posited, was that KB Hedgewar, the RSS founder, refused to turn his then fledgling outfit into a political organisation. Curran did not cite a source for his assertion.
The myth of Godse leaving the RSS now became a historical fact.
The cover of Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse And His Idea of India. Pics/Twitter
Journalist Dhirendra K Jha’s page-turner, Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse And His Idea of India, shows that the myth about the killer of the Mahatma was a lie the RSS manufactured to conceal its bloody vision. After scrutinising a rich array of documents and biographies of little-known RSS pracharaks, apart from interviewing the relatives of those who played a role in the assassination of Gandhi, Jha produces a chronology showing Godse was always an RSS man—and died as one, too.
Let alone leaving the RSS in 1930, Godse joined it only in 1934, when his father shifted to Sangli town. It was here Godse came under the influence of K B Limaye, a charismatic Brahmin who took the RSS oath in 1932 and was made the chief of its Maharashtra unit in 1934. Limaye groomed Godse to handle the publicity for the RSS.
Under pressure to contribute to the family kitty, Godse was advised by Limaye to move to Pune, which he did, in late 1936 or early 1937. He established a tailoring business in partnership with another RSS activist. Their business thrived, not least because RSS activists got their uniforms stitched by them.
The first concrete evidence of Godse joining the Hindu Mahasabha dates to October 1, 1938, when he led its activists to protest against the Nizam of Hyderabad crushing the religious rights of Hindus. Sent to jail for 12 months, Godse organised within its precincts an RSS shakha or camp. Jha quotes VG Deshpande, another jail inmate, saying Godse administered him the RSS oath during incarceration.
On his release from prison, Godse neither left nor was he expelled from the RSS for his Mahasabha activism. Jha ferrets out a document that shows Godse attended an important RSS meeting on December 1, 1939, in Pune, as an “original member.” Next year, he attended the RSS meeting as an “organiser”, which implied he had been promoted.
So much for claims that Godse left the RSS in 1930!
In July 1940, the British Indian government banned members of voluntary organisations from wearing uniforms and conducting parades. This diminished the lure of the RSS, as drills in khaki shorts had a great attraction for the youth. Godse and Narayan D Apte, also hanged for his role in the assassination of Gandhi, circumvented the ban, for they were instrumental in floating the Hindu Rashtra Dal (HRD) in 1942. The HRD offered young men militaristic training, including handling air guns.
The HRD can be perceived as a response to the Hindu Mahasabha’s 1939 resolution to float a Hindu National Militia. Yet the HRD also had the Sangh’s imprint. Godse is on record stating that the HRD’s first camp, in May 1942, was attended by “swayamsevaks and their sympathisers.” Jha quotes Godse’s friend L G Thatte thus: “The Hindu Rashtra Dal was formed out of trusted RSS men.”
For the HRD’s second camp the next year, the RSS sent two of its best teachers—P G Sahasrabuddhe and D V Gokhale. Then again, Limaye headed the HRD as well as the Sangh’s Maharashtra unit. Walter D Andersen and Sridhar D Damle, in The Brotherhood in Saffron, claim Limaye had ceased to be an RSS member between 1943 and 1945. Jha, however, shows Limaye was on the list of the RSS organisers during those years.
Jha says Godse’s everyday dress was the RSS uniform—khaki shorts, half-sleeved white shirt and black cap. In later years, he took to wearing dhoti but never exchanged the RSS cap for the Mahasabha one. Dada Maharaj, a Hindu preacher, testified to the police that Godse always wore the RSS uniform during their meetings in 1947.
Jha shows that the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha had, to a great extent, an overlapping membership, which explains why Godse, before he was hanged, recited the first four sentences of the RSS prayer. His idea of loyalty had him, during the court trial, protect the RSS from the ineffaceable stain of killing Gandhi.
Jha’s book should come in handy for the legal team of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who faces a defamation suit for saying the Mahatma was killed by an RSS man. Armed with Jha’s breathtaking investigation, Gandhi can nail the lie that Godse had left the RSS long before he pumped bullets into the Mahatma.
The writer is a senior journalist.
October 06, 2021
On Gandhi Jayanti: Godse Zindabad Twitter Strom on October 2, 2021 | Ram Puniyani
https://countercurrents.org/2021/10/on-gandhi-jayanti-godse-zindabad-twitter-strom/
On Gandhi Jayanti: Godse Zindabad Twitter Strom
Ram Puniyani
This October 2nd (2021) the Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday; the twitter was flooded with tweets, ‘Nathuram Godse Amar Rahen’ (Long live Nathuram Godse), Nathuram Godse Zindabad (Hail Godse). It was the top twitter trend for the day. It did come as a shock to many. Even to those who have been observing resurgence in praise of Godse, the murderer of Gandhi, this trend was beyond the wildest imagination of the most.
To keep the Godse praise under wraps has been tactic for the sectarian nationalists. The RSS, the supra political organization, steering the politics of Hindu nationalism can speak in many languages at the same time. With Modi coming to absolute majority at the center from 2014, now there are no restrains on the Hindu nationalist elements to hide their celebration of Godse’s act, which was a logical outcome of the politics being pursued by Hindu Nationalist outfits, Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. Right in the aftermath of Gandhi murder Sardar Patel, the then Home minster and the most ardent follower of Gandhi in a letter wrote, “As regards the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha… our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former (RSS) an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became possible.”– Sardar Vallabhai Patel, India’s first home minister, on the assassination of Gandhi, in a letter dated July 18, 1948 to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. (Sardar Patel Correspondence, Volume 6, edited by Durga Das)
RSS immediately claimed that Nathuram was had left the RSS, while Nathuram’s brother Gopal Godse in his book writes all three brothers had practically grown up in RSS and Nathuram never left RSS. Sardar Patel did blame the extreme wing of Hindu Mahasabha and later Jeevanlal Kapoor Commission confirmed the complicity of Vinyak Savarkar apart from Godse in the gruesome act.
Sardar Patel also writes that RSS celebrated this assassination by distributing sweets and they also called this as Gandhi Vadh. Vadh is a Marathi word used for killing of a demon. At the same RSS Chief Golwalkar declared a 13 day’s mourning. These two acts at the same time, distributing sweets and then declaring mourning tell us how this organization can speak in multiple languages at the same time. It regarded Gandhi led anti-British movement as a mere reactionary movement as it will not lead to Hindu nation, so it did not participate in it and did not unfurl the tricolor for decades over its office.
Gandhi was one person who touched the heart and minds of most Indians irrespective of their religion, region, language or region. He was in a way embodiment of the Indian-ness and very much in continuation of the saint tradition of the country. In due course the World leaders could see the import of the principles lived by Mahatma and UN declared his birthday as the global peace day. Many outstanding global personalities like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King (Jr.) drew inspiration from Gandhian teachings and acknowledged his debt for their own struggles for equality, peace and justice.
It is for this reason the at formal level the top leadership of RSS-BJP will not uphold Godse, it is for this reason that they will make the show of paying respect to Gandhi on his birthday. Lower down many leaders of this combine do openly articulate their real self, the ideology for which Godse murdered Gandhi and for which they praise and worship him. One of the RSS Chief Rajendra Singh did state that “Godse’s intention was good”. There is a large section of these leaders who in private had been upholding Godse’s violent act, and their open declarations are on the rise.
One recalls how Kamal Haasan was trolled when in May 2019 he said free India’s first terrorist was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. Lately temples and statues of Godse have been coming up in various places in (Including one in Gwalior) North India. Similarly a library was set up in Gwalior, where the assassination was plotted. It had to be closed in couple of days due to severe opposition.
One recalls the BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj on couple of occasions called Godse as patriot and nationalist. It’s another matter that he had to retract it. Pragya Thakur, the accused in Malegaon blast did state that Nathuram Godse was a nationalist; is a nationalist and will be a nationalist. She was asked to withdraw this comment and was dropped from Parliamentary Defense committee. BJP’s Anil Saumitra called Gandhi as ‘Father of Pakistan’.
In Maharashtra a Marathi play has been doing rounds, ‘Mee Nathuram Boltoy’, (I am Nathuram Speaking). This drew packed houses in Maharashtra. On other side; by word of mouth Gandhi is presented as anti National, anti Hindu and pro Muslim. Printed literature against Gandhi may not be much but one such book has also been published, ‘Gandhi was anti National’! Anant Kumar Hedge ex Union Minster of BJP stated that there is no need to feel apologetic about Godse. He did withdraw his comments after reprimand from top leaders.
To add to the ‘Hate Gandhi’ propaganda the makers of biopic on Modi have declared the launch of biopic on Godse. All this scattered statements from the RSS Combine stable, sometimes reprimanded from top, shows the real face of their ideology. Godse was no freak; he was ideologically motivated by Hindu Rashtra, Akhand Bharat. While right from beginning this combine has been opposed to composite Indian nationalism and believed in the ideology of Hindu Rasthra, the same has been propagated not only though the Shakhas and Shishu Mandirs but also through the large sections of Corporate controlled media and the latest addition to the spread of narrow nationalism based on religion, the social media. In a way the twitter storm should make us realize the ideology which murdered Gandhi is now coming out more in the open and glorification of Godse is the visible part of the deep roots of religious nationalism in India.
March 01, 2021
India: Congress in Madhya Pradesh State Divided Over Induction of Ex-Hindu Mahasabha Leader Who 'Worshipped Godse' | PTI report in The Wire
MP Congress Divided Over Induction of Ex-Hindu Mahasabha Leader Who 'Worshipped Godse'
Former Union minister Arun Yadav has opposed the induction of Babulal Chourasia, who reportedly once performed puja in front of a bust of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse at the Hindu Mahasabha's office.
https://thewire.in/communalism/mp-congress-divided-over-induction-of-ex-hindu-mahasabha-leader-who-worshipped-godse
January 11, 2021
October 09, 2020
Hindi Article-Gandhi: Godse-Contrasting Nationalism
गाँधी और गोडसे: विरोधाभासी राष्ट्रवाद
-राम पुनियानी
इस वर्ष गांधी जयंती (2 अक्टूबर 2020) पर ट्विटर पर ‘नाथूराम गोडसे जिन्दाबाद‘ के संदेशों का सैलाब आ गया और इसने इसी प्लेटफार्म पर गांधीजी को दी गई श्रद्धांजलियों को पीछे छोड़ दिया. इस वर्ष गोडसे पर एक लाख से ज्यादा ट्वीट किए गए जबकि पिछले वर्ष इनकी संख्या करीब बीस हजार थी. इस वर्ष बहुसंख्यक ट्वीट, बाट एकाउंटस से भेजे गए. इन्हीं बाट्स से पिछले कुछ हफ्तों से ‘जस्टिस फॉर सुशात’ के संदेश भेजे जा रहे थे. इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं कि पिछले कुछ वर्षों से गोडसे को कुछ ज्यादा ही याद किया जा रहा है.
यहां उल्लेखनीय है कि तत्कालीन आरएसएस प्रमुख राजेन्द्र सिंह ने कहा था, “गोडसे अखंड भारत का सपना देखता था. उसका इरादा नेक था परंतु जो रास्ता उसने अपनाया वह उचित नहीं था” (अप्रैल 27, 1998 आउटलुक). यहां यह याद करना प्रासंगिक होगा कि प्रज्ञा सिंह ठाकुर ने संसद में कहा था कि, “नाथूराम गोडसे देशभक्त था, है और रहेगा”. इसी तरह, भाजपा सांसद साक्षी महाराज ने गोडसे को राष्ट्रवादी बताया था. गोडसे को समर्पित एक मंदिर की नींव 2014 में मेरठ में रखी गई थी. कुछ वर्षों पहले ‘मी नाथूराम बोलतोय‘ नाटक का महाराष्ट्र में मंचन हुआ था जिसे देखने भारी संख्या में लोग आते थे. पिछले वर्ष 30 जनवरी को हिन्दू महासभा के कार्यकताओं ने गांधीजी की हत्या के दृश्य का मंचन किया था जिसके दौरान महासभा की पूजा शकुन पांडे ने गांधीजी के पुतले पर तीन बार गोली दागी. गोली लगते ही पुतले से खून बहने लगा और इसके तुरंत बाद दर्शकों को मिठाई बांटी गई.
पिछले दिनों अनेक ऐसी घटनाएं हुईं हैं जिनसे ऐसा प्रतीत होता है कि गांधीजी को राष्ट्रपिता मानने वाले देश में उनके हत्यारे के हिन्दू राष्ट्रवाद का प्रभाव बढ रहा है. यह तब जब कि संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघ ने गांधीजी के सिद्धांतों को सम्मान देते हुए 2 अक्टूबर को विश्व अहिंसा दिवस घोषित किया है. गोडसे के विचारों का प्रचार उस समय किया जा रहा है जब सारी दुनिया में शांति और अहिंसा को समर्पित संस्थाएं स्थापित हो रही हैं. कई विश्वविख्यात नेताओं जैसे मार्टिन लूथर किंग जूनियर और नेल्सन मंडेला ने सार्वजनिक रूप से स्वीकार किया कि उनके आंदोलन गांधीजी से प्रेरित थे. यहां यह स्मरणीय है कि नेल्सन मंडेला ने दक्षिण अफ्रीका में रंगभेद पर आधारित शासन व्यवस्था को जड़ से उखाड़ फेंका था.
हमारे देश को भारतीय पहचान के आधार पर एक सूत्र में बांधना गांधी का सर्वाधिक महत्वपूर्ण योगदान था. गांधी ने अपने साम्राज्यवाद एवं ब्रिटेन विरोधी आंदोलन में अहिंसा और सत्याग्रह के अपने सिद्धांतों का उपयोग किया.
अपने आंदोलन के सिद्धांतों के विकास की प्रक्रिया में नस्ल और जाति की अपनी समझ के आधार पर उन्होंने सबकी समानता के सिद्धांत को प्रतिपादित किया. उनके इस चिंतन ने उस समय ठोस स्वरूप लिया जब उन्होंने छुआछूत विरोधी आंदोलन और दलितों के लिए आरक्षण का समर्थन किया तथा संविधान का प्रारूप बनाने वाली समिति की अध्यक्षता के लिए डा. अम्बेडकर का नाम प्रस्तावित किया.
इसके ठीक विपरीत, मुस्लिम और हिन्दू राष्ट्रवादी अपने-अपने समुदायों के संपन्न वर्ग के हितों के लंबरदार बने रहे और उन्होंने वर्ग, जाति और लिंग के प्राचीन पदक्रम को पुनः स्थापित करने का प्रयास किया. नाथूराम गोडसे, जो आरएसएस का प्रचारक था, हिन्दू राष्ट्रवाद के मूल्यों में आस्था रखता था. स्पष्ट है कि प्राचीन मूल्यों से प्रेरित हिन्दू राष्ट्रवादियों के भारत का मुख्य आधार असमानता थी. “मैंने गांधी की हत्या क्यों की” नामक पुस्तक, जो गोडसे के अदालत में दिए गए बयानों का संग्रह है, किताबों की दुकानों पर बड़े पैमाने पर उपलब्ध करवाई जा रही है. यह किताब देश के अतीत और आजादी के आंदोलन को साम्प्रदायिक चश्में से देखती है. किताब में गोडसे कहता है, “गांधी का व्यक्तित्व विरोधाभासी था. वे आक्रामक शांतिवादी थे, जिन्होंने सत्य और अहिंसा के नाम पर देश पर कई विपत्तियां लादीं. वहीं दूसरी ओर राणा प्रताप, शिवाजी और गुरू गोविंद सिंह, आजादी के लिए उनके योगदान के कारण देशवासियों के मन में हमेशा बसे रहेंगे. पिछले 32 वर्षों के घटनाक्रम, जिसकी पराकाष्ठा गांधीजी के मुस्लिम समर्थक अनशन से हुई, ने मुझे इस नतीजे पर पहुंचने पर मजबूर किया कि गांधी का तुरंत खात्मा किया जाए.” “उनके अनुयायी यह समझ ही न सके कि शिवाजी, राणा प्रताप और गुरू गोविंद सिंह के सामने गांधी बौने हैं और इसी कारण मैंने उनकी हत्या की. मेरी यह मान्यता है कि देश की आजादी के आंदोलन में गांधीजी का योगदान लगभग शून्य है”.
गोडसे की इस विचारधारा के ठीक विपरीत, गांधी, भारतीय इतिहास को विभिन्न धर्मों के मानने वालों का इतिहास मानते थे. महात्मा गांधी ने कहा था कि, “मुस्लिम राजाओं के शासन में हिन्दू और हिन्दुओं के शासनकाल में मुसलमान, फले-फूले. दोनों ने महसूस किया कि परस्पर वैमनस्य आत्मघाती है और दोनों को यह पता था कि तलवार की नोंक पर दूसरे को उसका धर्म त्यागने के लिए बाध्य करना संभव नहीं होगा. दोनों ने शांतिपूर्वक साथ रहने का निर्णय किया. अंग्रेजों के आने के बाद झगड़े प्रारंभ हो गए...”(हिन्द स्वराज). यह अफसोस की बात है कि हिन्दू और मुस्लिम सम्प्रदायवादी, देश को लूटने में साम्राज्यवादियों की भूमिका, समानता के लिए सामाजिक परिवर्तन और देश को आजाद करने के लिए साम्राज्यवाद विरोधी आंदोलन के महत्व को नहीं समझते.
आज हमारे देश में विरोधाभासी प्रक्रियाओं का प्रभाव नजर आ रहा है. जहां पूरी दुनिया में सामाजिक आंदोलन, अहिंसा और सत्याग्रह के संबंध में गांधी के विचारों के महत्व को महसूस किया जा रहा है वहीं भारत में राष्ट्रवाद के बारे में गांधी के नजरिए की उपेक्षा हो रही है. आज के शासक जहां एक ओर गांधी को राजघाट पर फूल चढ़ाकर अपनी श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित कर रहे हैं वहीं दूसरी ओर वे ऐसी विचारधारा को प्रोत्साहन दे रहे हैं जो गांधीजी की हत्या की जड़ में थी. एक ओर ट्विटर के जरिए योजनाबद्ध तरीके से गोडसे के विचारों का प्रचार किया जा रहा है वहीं दूसरी ओर आरएसएस, जो गोडसे की विचारधारा का मूल स्त्रोत था और जिसका वह प्रचारक था, से दूरी बनाने का प्रयास कर रहा है. अभी तक हिन्दू राष्ट्रवाद की विचारधारा पर्दे के पीछे थी परंतु अब खुल्लम-खुल्ला गोडसे की स्तुति की जा रही है. आज के समय में सत्ताधारियों द्वारा अप्रत्यक्ष रूप से गोडसे की विचाराधारा को स्थापित किया जा रहा है. दूसरी ओर हिन्दुत्व के नाम पर गांधी के महत्व को कम किया जा रहा है. यह हिन्दुत्व न तो संतों की परंपरा का है और ना गांधी की. ऐसा लग रहा है कि गोडसे के भारत के सामने गांधी का भारत कमजोर पड़ रहा है. गांधी का भारत एकता, समावेशिता, स्नेह और करूणा पर आधारित है. आज के सत्ताधारियों द्वारा इन मूल्यों की अवहेलना की जा रही है. (हिंदी रूपांतरणः अमरीश हरदेनिया)
January 03, 2020
January 02, 2020
India: Godse Not RSS ?
The perception that Godse had left the RSS to join the Hindu Mahasabha has been questioned on the basis of evidence that suggest working relations between the two organisations and an attempt to create a distance between them after Gandhi’s assassination [ . . . ] URL: https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/godse-not-rss-prayer-tailor-entry-test-claim/cid/1732229
June 02, 2019
India: The cult of Nathuram Godse is no more marginal | Ramachandra Guha
Hindustan Times, Jun 01, 2019
In the early 1990s, the veteran Gandhian, Sushila Nayar, was in the temple town of Ayodhya on a mission to promote communal harmony. At an inter-faith prayer meeting, she led the singing of a hymn much beloved of the Mahatma, Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram. When she came to the line Ishwar Allah Tero Naam, a group of protesters marched to the stage and stopped the singing. The elderly Nayar, seeking to placate them, said: “Hum Gandhiji ki taraf sé aaye hain (We have come on behalf of the memory and legacy of Gandhi)”. The protesters answered: “Aur ham Godse ké taraf sé (We have come on behalf of Godse)”.
Back then, and for many years afterwards, commentators considered those who worshipped Nathuram Godse marginal and irrelevant. Things may be changing. A Member of Parliament (MP) in the last House, Sakshi Maharaj, praised Godse, and was yet renominated by the BJP. In this election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Thakur, praised Godse. Although the prime minister later distanced himself from her remarks, her sentiments were spontaneously endorsed by several other BJP candidates across the country. Notably, all these Godse bhakts won their seats, and by very large margins.
The cult of Nathuram Godse is no more marginal; but mainstream. Its members include not only BJP MPs but also prominent Sangh ideologues. In a recent television debate, the well-known Gujarati writer, Vishnu Pandya, called Pragya Thakur “a saint”, no less. Of her praise of the Mahatma’s murderer, he commented: “Godse was a patriot, and so was Gandhi.” Pandya is no ordinary Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) worker; he is a Padma Shri awardee and the current President of the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi.
In the Mahatma’s lifetime, the Hindutva hatred towards him had two prongs; they thought his non-violence weak and effeminate, and they opposed his asking for equal rights for Muslims. More recently, this animosity has acquired a third dimension; namely, his anointing Jawaharlal Nehru rather than Vallabhbhai Patel as his political successor. While Nehru lived, right-wing Hindus principally disliked him because, like Gandhi, he resolutely opposed India becoming a Hindu theocratic State, the mirror image of Pakistan; after his death, they disliked Nehru because of the dynasty which (illegitimately) claims his mantle.
That no one man could have stopped Partition; that Gandhi did more than anyone else to stem the wounds of Partition; that Patel and Nehru were comrades, not rivals; that a civilised society does not discriminate on the basis of religion — all these facts are suppressed or denied in the Hindu Right’s perverse, paranoid, understanding of history.
Especially in the last year of the Mahatma’s life, the RSS expressed a venomous hatred of him in public. (This is documented in detail in my biography of Gandhi). After he was murdered — by a former member of the RSS — they fell silent. In the 1950s and 1960s, they rarely referred to him. After the 1970s, they began to praise him, albeit in muted terms. For them, he was now a patriot, albeit one of many. They could never bring themselves to call him what Subhas Chandra Bose had memorably named him: the father of the nation.
Even while diminishing Gandhi’s role in the freedom struggle, the RSS was careful to distance itself from Godse. This may no longer be true. With the hubris produced by this resounding election victory, their real feelings about the matter seem to be manifesting themselves. Hence Pandya’s remark: “Godse was a patriot, and so was Gandhi.” The Mahatma is here equated to his murderer, with the murderer’s patriotism mentioned first.
Godse was a deshbhakt; and so was Gandhi. That is the RSS view. The view of those to the Right of them is less equivocal; Gandhi was a traitor, and Godse was a deshbhakt, indeed a great deshbhakt because he eliminated a traitor. This view is contained in a rash of WhatsApp forwards, and in conversations among some sections of the Right, a widely held view (especially in North India) is not just that Godse was right in murdering Gandhi, but that he should have murdered him earlier, before the Mahatma’s last fast asking Indians to give equal rights to those Muslims who chose to express their own deshbhakti by staying behind in our country, which was also theirs.
The RSS might dissemble and equivocate, but for the hardline Hindutvawadi the position is clear: Gandhi was the original anti-national — because he did not stop Partition, because he asked India to give back to Pakistan the money that India owed, because he loved Muslims (and Christians) as much as he loved Hindus. The man who eliminated this anti-national thus must be a true patriot.
Some of those who venerate Godse while simultaneously detesting Gandhi now sit in Parliament, sent there by Indians who find their views utterly congenial. That this is happening in the 150th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth is a grim and cruel irony that we have to live with.
I began this column with a few Godse worshippers in the 1990s in Ayodhya. The public servant who told me the story about them added this prophecy: that Indians had once kicked out the Buddha, and we would do the same to Gandhi. Twenty-five years later, the Godse worshippers do not any more number in the few thousands, but in the millions. Their representatives sit in Parliament.
India turfed out the Buddha because we found his ideas of social equality antithetical to our love of social hierarchy. Now, many Indians wish to turf out the Mahatma because they find his ideas of interfaith harmony antithetical to their love of majoritarian bigotry. Perhaps we should let the rest of the world own and affirm Gandhi, just as they have owned and affirmed the Buddha.
Ramachandra Guha is the author of Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World
The views expressed are personal
Godse worship goes mainstream in India
The cult of Nathuram Godse is no more marginal. Its members include not only BJP MPs but also prominent Sangh ideologues. Its representatives sit in Parliament, and may even be in the Council of Ministers
Even while diminishing Gandhi’s role in the freedom struggle, the RSS was careful to distance itself from Godse. This may no longer be true(Getty Images)
Back then, and for many years afterwards, commentators considered those who worshipped Nathuram Godse marginal and irrelevant. Things may be changing. A Member of Parliament (MP) in the last House, Sakshi Maharaj, praised Godse, and was yet renominated by the BJP. In this election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Thakur, praised Godse. Although the prime minister later distanced himself from her remarks, her sentiments were spontaneously endorsed by several other BJP candidates across the country. Notably, all these Godse bhakts won their seats, and by very large margins.
The cult of Nathuram Godse is no more marginal; but mainstream. Its members include not only BJP MPs but also prominent Sangh ideologues. In a recent television debate, the well-known Gujarati writer, Vishnu Pandya, called Pragya Thakur “a saint”, no less. Of her praise of the Mahatma’s murderer, he commented: “Godse was a patriot, and so was Gandhi.” Pandya is no ordinary Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) worker; he is a Padma Shri awardee and the current President of the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi.
In the Mahatma’s lifetime, the Hindutva hatred towards him had two prongs; they thought his non-violence weak and effeminate, and they opposed his asking for equal rights for Muslims. More recently, this animosity has acquired a third dimension; namely, his anointing Jawaharlal Nehru rather than Vallabhbhai Patel as his political successor. While Nehru lived, right-wing Hindus principally disliked him because, like Gandhi, he resolutely opposed India becoming a Hindu theocratic State, the mirror image of Pakistan; after his death, they disliked Nehru because of the dynasty which (illegitimately) claims his mantle.
That no one man could have stopped Partition; that Gandhi did more than anyone else to stem the wounds of Partition; that Patel and Nehru were comrades, not rivals; that a civilised society does not discriminate on the basis of religion — all these facts are suppressed or denied in the Hindu Right’s perverse, paranoid, understanding of history.
Especially in the last year of the Mahatma’s life, the RSS expressed a venomous hatred of him in public. (This is documented in detail in my biography of Gandhi). After he was murdered — by a former member of the RSS — they fell silent. In the 1950s and 1960s, they rarely referred to him. After the 1970s, they began to praise him, albeit in muted terms. For them, he was now a patriot, albeit one of many. They could never bring themselves to call him what Subhas Chandra Bose had memorably named him: the father of the nation.
Even while diminishing Gandhi’s role in the freedom struggle, the RSS was careful to distance itself from Godse. This may no longer be true. With the hubris produced by this resounding election victory, their real feelings about the matter seem to be manifesting themselves. Hence Pandya’s remark: “Godse was a patriot, and so was Gandhi.” The Mahatma is here equated to his murderer, with the murderer’s patriotism mentioned first.
Godse was a deshbhakt; and so was Gandhi. That is the RSS view. The view of those to the Right of them is less equivocal; Gandhi was a traitor, and Godse was a deshbhakt, indeed a great deshbhakt because he eliminated a traitor. This view is contained in a rash of WhatsApp forwards, and in conversations among some sections of the Right, a widely held view (especially in North India) is not just that Godse was right in murdering Gandhi, but that he should have murdered him earlier, before the Mahatma’s last fast asking Indians to give equal rights to those Muslims who chose to express their own deshbhakti by staying behind in our country, which was also theirs.
The RSS might dissemble and equivocate, but for the hardline Hindutvawadi the position is clear: Gandhi was the original anti-national — because he did not stop Partition, because he asked India to give back to Pakistan the money that India owed, because he loved Muslims (and Christians) as much as he loved Hindus. The man who eliminated this anti-national thus must be a true patriot.
Some of those who venerate Godse while simultaneously detesting Gandhi now sit in Parliament, sent there by Indians who find their views utterly congenial. That this is happening in the 150th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth is a grim and cruel irony that we have to live with.
I began this column with a few Godse worshippers in the 1990s in Ayodhya. The public servant who told me the story about them added this prophecy: that Indians had once kicked out the Buddha, and we would do the same to Gandhi. Twenty-five years later, the Godse worshippers do not any more number in the few thousands, but in the millions. Their representatives sit in Parliament.
India turfed out the Buddha because we found his ideas of social equality antithetical to our love of social hierarchy. Now, many Indians wish to turf out the Mahatma because they find his ideas of interfaith harmony antithetical to their love of majoritarian bigotry. Perhaps we should let the rest of the world own and affirm Gandhi, just as they have owned and affirmed the Buddha.
Ramachandra Guha is the author of Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World
The views expressed are personal
May 26, 2019
India: Disciples of Savarkar, LK Advani, Nathu Ram Godse, Pragya Singh Thakur ... the list is long
L. K. Advani likes to boast that, after migrating from Sindh, he paid his respects to Savarkar in Bpmbay in the last months of 1947. A fellow bhakt of Savarkar at the time was one Nathuram Godse. So the "blessing" is entirely in character. https://t.co/ctfRAj2OgT
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) May 26, 2019
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