Gopal Godse
Encyclopedia
Gopal Vinayak Godse (c. 1919 - November 26, 2005), was the brother of Nathuram Godse
and one of the conspirators in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948. He was the last one to survive and lived his last days in Pune
, Maharashtra
, India
.
district. His primary education began at Karjat
in Raigad District
, and continued at Ratnagiri
. After his father retired, his family settled at Sangli
in Maharashtra
, and he passed the matriculation exam.
He worked as a volunteer for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
. Simultaneously, he worked for the Hindu Mahasabha as well, but without enrolling as a member.
When the World War II broke out, he joined the defense services as a storekeeper in the Indian Army Ordnance Corps in 1940. He opted for service on the front, and served in Iraq and Iran till April 1944.
After he returned, he was posted at Khadki and got married to Sindhu. They have two daughters, Vidyullata and Asilata. After Gopal was arrested, Sindhu supported her daughters by working in Gopal's elder brother, Dattatraya's workshop called 'Udyam Engineering'. Later she set up a separate home and also started a small workshop of her own named 'Pratap Engineering'.
, shot Gandhi and was executed by hanging
with co-conspirator Narayan Apte
on November 15, 1949. Gopal was arrested on 5 February from his house in Pune and was sentenced to 18 years for his part in the assassination. The three men believed that Gandhi had turned his back on the Indian Independence Movement
, and that his actions led to the Partition of India
which in turn led to the inflammation of sectarian strife between Pakistan
's Muslim
s and India
's Hindu
s. In an interview in 1998 he reiterated that he never regretted Gandhi's killing. He hated what he called Gandhi's "appeasement" of Muslims.
According to Gopal what triggered the assassination was a bomb explosion on 20 January 1948 at Gandhi's prayer meeting in Delhi, just 50 meters away from Gandhi. The failed explosion for which Madan Lal Pahwa was caught, heightened the urgency-the Godse brothers wanted to finish it before the police caught them.
Gopal was a Hindu nationalist. He claimed that Gandhi never really said Hey Ram as he was dying and this was just a ploy of the government to prove that he was, indeed, a staunch Hindu who deserved to be elevated to sainthood. In an interview with Time Magazine he said, "Someone asked me whether Gandhi said, Hey Ram. I said Kingsley
did say it. But Gandhi did not. Because that was not a drama."
He admitted that at one point, Gandhi was his idol. He credited Gandhi for the mass awakening that he created and that he removed the fear of prison from the minds of Indians.
1.Has a life convict to die in prison under Indian law? - 1961
2.Jaya Mrityunjaya - 1969
3.Krantikarakancha Adhyatmavad Aani Itara Lekha -1971
4.Panchavanna Kotinche Bali (The sacrifice of 55 crores) - 1971
5.Saine Ka Lihila Jai Rashtracha Itihaas? - 1975
6.Lal Kilyatila Athavani - 1981
7.Gandhi Hatya Aani Me (Gandhi's assassination & me) - 1989
8.Qutub Minar Is Vishnu Dhwaja - 1997
9.Phansi Aani Nathuram - 1999
On 25th July, 1999, Gopal Godse wrote a reply in the form of handwritten letter to Mumbai’s Student Dinesh Shivnath Upadhyaya. In his letter he suggests him to study his written books for the answers of questions which were asked by him in his letter. He informed him that cataract operation for his both eyes were necessary so after 2/4 days he will undergo an operation for one eye & after 2 month he will undergo for second eye. In last paragraph he informed him that he had a problem of Physics. That time he was using ancient Vedic Hindu sage Agatsya's mantras, wanted to make dry cells. From Dinesh’s letter he knew that he was Physical Chemistry student so he wanted his help in that invention.
‡ – According to (supposedly) a copy of the FIR here and its translation, Gandhi uttered "Ram, Ram" after being shot.
Nathuram Godse
Nathuram Vinayak Godse , from the city of Pune, India was a Hindutva activist and journalist, who was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. Along with his brother Gopal Godse and six other co-conspirators, he executed a plot to assassinate Gandhi.-Early life:Nathuram Godse was born in Baramati, Pune...
and one of the conspirators in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948. He was the last one to survive and lived his last days in Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Early Life
Gopal was born in Khed (now Rajgurunagar) in PunePune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
district. His primary education began at Karjat
Karjat
Karjat is a city, a Municipal Council, a Tahsil and a sub-district in Raigad district, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra.-Geography:...
in Raigad District
Raigad district
Raigad District , also known as Raigarh District, is a district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Konkan region. The district was renamed after Raigad, the fort which was the former capital of the Maratha leader Shivaji, and is located in the interior regions of the district,...
, and continued at Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri
Ratnāgiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan.The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east...
. After his father retired, his family settled at Sangli
Sangli
Sangli is a city in the state of Maharashtra of India. Sangli is known as the Turmeric city for its vast production of Turmeric. Sangli is situated on the banks of river Krishna and is the largest market place for Turmeric in Asia and houses many sugar factories, which it is also noted for...
in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, and he passed the matriculation exam.
He worked as a volunteer for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Patriotic Organization), also known the Sangh, is a right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary, volunteer, and allegedly militant organization for Hindu males in India...
. Simultaneously, he worked for the Hindu Mahasabha as well, but without enrolling as a member.
When the World War II broke out, he joined the defense services as a storekeeper in the Indian Army Ordnance Corps in 1940. He opted for service on the front, and served in Iraq and Iran till April 1944.
After he returned, he was posted at Khadki and got married to Sindhu. They have two daughters, Vidyullata and Asilata. After Gopal was arrested, Sindhu supported her daughters by working in Gopal's elder brother, Dattatraya's workshop called 'Udyam Engineering'. Later she set up a separate home and also started a small workshop of her own named 'Pratap Engineering'.
Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi
Gopal Godse's brother, Nathuram GodseNathuram Godse
Nathuram Vinayak Godse , from the city of Pune, India was a Hindutva activist and journalist, who was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. Along with his brother Gopal Godse and six other co-conspirators, he executed a plot to assassinate Gandhi.-Early life:Nathuram Godse was born in Baramati, Pune...
, shot Gandhi and was executed by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
with co-conspirator Narayan Apte
Narayan Apte
Narayan Dattatraya Apte was a Hindu activist and enterpreneur who was executed for his role in the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi....
on November 15, 1949. Gopal was arrested on 5 February from his house in Pune and was sentenced to 18 years for his part in the assassination. The three men believed that Gandhi had turned his back on the Indian Independence Movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
, and that his actions led to the Partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
which in turn led to the inflammation of sectarian strife between Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s. In an interview in 1998 he reiterated that he never regretted Gandhi's killing. He hated what he called Gandhi's "appeasement" of Muslims.
According to Gopal what triggered the assassination was a bomb explosion on 20 January 1948 at Gandhi's prayer meeting in Delhi, just 50 meters away from Gandhi. The failed explosion for which Madan Lal Pahwa was caught, heightened the urgency-the Godse brothers wanted to finish it before the police caught them.
Gopal was a Hindu nationalist. He claimed that Gandhi never really said Hey Ram as he was dying and this was just a ploy of the government to prove that he was, indeed, a staunch Hindu who deserved to be elevated to sainthood. In an interview with Time Magazine he said, "Someone asked me whether Gandhi said, Hey Ram. I said Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
did say it. But Gandhi did not. Because that was not a drama."
He admitted that at one point, Gandhi was his idol. He credited Gandhi for the mass awakening that he created and that he removed the fear of prison from the minds of Indians.
Later Life
Godse was released from prison in October 1964, but was re-arrested a month later under the Defense of India Act and kept in prison for over a year. He was finally released at the end of 1965. Gopal Godse lived largely on the royalties obtained from books he wrote on Mahatma Gandhi & the assassination. He wrote 9 books in Marathi & English language.1.Has a life convict to die in prison under Indian law? - 1961
2.Jaya Mrityunjaya - 1969
3.Krantikarakancha Adhyatmavad Aani Itara Lekha -1971
4.Panchavanna Kotinche Bali (The sacrifice of 55 crores) - 1971
5.Saine Ka Lihila Jai Rashtracha Itihaas? - 1975
6.Lal Kilyatila Athavani - 1981
7.Gandhi Hatya Aani Me (Gandhi's assassination & me) - 1989
8.Qutub Minar Is Vishnu Dhwaja - 1997
9.Phansi Aani Nathuram - 1999
On 25th July, 1999, Gopal Godse wrote a reply in the form of handwritten letter to Mumbai’s Student Dinesh Shivnath Upadhyaya. In his letter he suggests him to study his written books for the answers of questions which were asked by him in his letter. He informed him that cataract operation for his both eyes were necessary so after 2/4 days he will undergo an operation for one eye & after 2 month he will undergo for second eye. In last paragraph he informed him that he had a problem of Physics. That time he was using ancient Vedic Hindu sage Agatsya's mantras, wanted to make dry cells. From Dinesh’s letter he knew that he was Physical Chemistry student so he wanted his help in that invention.
‡ – According to (supposedly) a copy of the FIR here and its translation, Gandhi uttered "Ram, Ram" after being shot.
List of Accused
List of People accused in the attempt and assassination of Mahatma GandhiMahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
- Nathuram Vinayak GodseNathuram GodseNathuram Vinayak Godse , from the city of Pune, India was a Hindutva activist and journalist, who was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. Along with his brother Gopal Godse and six other co-conspirators, he executed a plot to assassinate Gandhi.-Early life:Nathuram Godse was born in Baramati, Pune...
- Narayan Dattatraya ApteNarayan ApteNarayan Dattatraya Apte was a Hindu activist and enterpreneur who was executed for his role in the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi....
- Vishnu Ramkrishna KarkareVishnu Ramkrishna KarkareVishnu Ramakrishna Karkare , a Hindu Mahasabha activist was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in an attempt to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi.-Early life:...
- Madanlal Kashmirilal PahwaMadanlal PahwaMadanlal Pahwa came to India in 1947 as a refugee after the partition of India. The plight of refugees intensified his anger against Mahatma Gandhi and other Congress leaders...
- Shankar KistaiyaShankar KistaiyaShankar Kistaiya was an accused in the Mahatama's Gandhi's assassination case. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was acquitted by the high court.-Early life:...
- Gopal Vinayak Godse
- Digambar Ramchandra Badge
- Vinayak Damodar SavarkarVinayak Damodar SavarkarVināyak Dāmodar Sāvarkar was an Indian freedom fighter, revolutionary and politician. He was the proponent of liberty as the ultimate ideal. Savarkar was a poet, writer and playwright...
- Dattatraya Sadashiv Parchure
- Gangadhar Dandavate
- Gangadhar Jadhao
- Suryadeo Sharma
External links
- Gandhi assassination plotter dies Report from the Al JazeeraAl JazeeraAl Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
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