“The Five Attempts on Mahatma Gandhi's Life”
Very few people know the animosity maintained by Hindutva fanatics towards Gandhi which was evident in attempts on his life prior to Nathuram Godse's final attempt. Chunibhai Vaidya, a leading Gandhian from Gujarat, talks...
..about a total of six attempts on Gandhi's life. Apart from the details of various attempts mentioned below, he talks about an attack on his life in September 1946 also.
1. The first one happened in Pune on 25 June 1934 when Mahatma Gandhi was going to the Corporation...
..Auditorium to deliver a speech. Kasturba Gandhi, his wife, was also accompanying him. Incidentally, the car in which Gandhis were travelling developed some snag and was delayed whereas the other car which was in their motorcade reached the venue where a bomb was thrown at it.
The explosion caused injuries to some policemen and ordinary people.
2. The second attempt on Mahatma Gandhi's life also involved his future assassin, namely Nathuram Godse. Gandhi was visiting Panchagani, a hill station near Pune, in May 1944. A crowd of 15-20 young people...
..had reached the place in a rented bus. They organised a day-long protest against him but refused to talk when Gandhi invited them. During the prayer meeting in the evening, Nathuram rushed towards Gandhi with a dagger in his hand but he was overpowered by others.
3. The third attempt took place when Gandhi's talks with Jinnah started in September 1944. When Gandhi was leaving for Mumbai from Sevagram Ashram, a group of fanatic Hindu youth, led by Nathuram Godse, tried to stop him. Their contention was that Gandhi must not travel to...
..Mumbai to hold talks with Jinnah. Nathuram was again found in possession of a dagger.
4. The fourth attempt on Gandhi's life occurred on 20 January 1948. It involved roughly the same group, namely Madanlal Pahwa, Shankar Kistaiya, Digambar Badge, Vishnu Karkare, Gopal Godse,..
Nathuram Godse, and Narayan Apte. The plan was to attack Mahatma Gandhi and the Bengal leader Huseyn Shaheed Sahrawardy. In this failed attempt, Madanlal Pahwa placed a cotton ball enclosing a bomb on the wall behind the podium in Birla Bhavan where Gandhi was staying.
The bomb went off without creating any panic, but Madanlal Pahwa was caught. Other members of the group who were assigned to shoot Gandhi in the ensuing melee developed cold feet and failed to act.
5. The last attempt took place on 30 January 1948 at 5:17 when Nathuram Godie approached Gandhi and shot him three times in his chest at point blank range. All those involved in the crime were arrested. Nathuram Golse and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death.
Reference:
Godse's Children: Hindutva Terror in India by Subhash Gatade
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.