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Gopal Godse, coconspirator in Gandhi's assassination and brother of the assassin, looks back in
Fifty two years ago, on Jan. 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu
extremist. Godse believed that the Mahatma, or great soul, was responsible for the 1947 partition of India and
the creation of Pakistan. Godse and his friend Narayan Apte were hanged. His brother Gopal and two others
were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the conspiracy. Gopal Godse remained in jail for 18
years and now, at 80, lives with his wife in a small apartment in Pune. He is still proud of his role in the
murder. Although Godse is largely ignored in India and rarely talks to journalists, he agreed to speak with
TIME Delhi correspondent Meenakshi Ganguly.
walked, when he smiled, how he waved all these minor details that the people did not require were imposed upon
them to create an atmosphere around Gandhi. And the more ignorant the masses, the more popular was Gandhi. So
they always tried to keep the masses ignorant.
TIME: But surely it takes more than good publicity to create a Gandhi?
Godse: There is another thing. Generally in the Indian masses, people are attracted toward saintism. Gandhi was
shrewd to use his saintdom for politics. After his death the government used him. The government knew that he was
an enemy of Hindus, but they wanted to show that he was a staunch Hindu. So the first act they did was to put "Hey
Ram" into Gandhi's dead mouth.
TIME: You mean that he did not say "Hey Ram" as he died?
Godse: No, he did not say it. You see, it was an automatic pistol. It had a magazine for nine bullets but there were
actually seven at that time. And once you pull the trigger, within a second, all the seven bullets had passed. When
these bullets pass through crucial points like the heart, consciousness is finished. You have no strength.
When Nathuram saw Gandhi was coming, he took out the pistol and folded his hands with the pistol inside it. There
was one girl very close to Gandhi. He feared that he would hurt the girl. So he went forward and with his left hand
pushed her aside and shot. It happened within one second. You see, there was a film and some Kingsley fellow had
acted as Gandhi. Someone asked me whether Gandhi said, "Hey Ram." I said Kingsley did say it. But Gandhi did not.
Because that was not a drama.
TIME: Many people think Gandhi deserved to be nominated TIME's Person of the Century. [He was one of two
runnersup, after Albert Einstein.]
Godse: I name him the most cruel person for Hindus in India. The most cruel person! That is how I term him.
TIME: But his philosophy was of turning the other cheek. He felt one person had to stop the cycle of violence...
Godse: The world does not work that way.
TIME: Is there anything that you admire about Gandhi? Godse: Firstly, the mass awakening that Gandhi did. In our
school days Gandhi was our idol. Secondly, he removed the fear of prison. He said it is different to go into prison for a
theft and different to go in for satyagraha (civil disobedience). As youngsters, we had our enthusiasm, but we needed
some channel. We took Gandhi to be our channel. We don't repent for that.
TIME: What was the most difficult thing about killing Gandhi? Godse: The greatest hurdle before us was not that of
giving up our lives or going to the gallows. It was that we would be condemned both by the government and by the
public. Because the public had been kept in the dark about what harm Gandhi had done to the nation. How he had
fooled them!