The Second Crucifixion

 

‘The Second Crucifixion’ is the title of the last chapter of Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins’s magnum opus Freedom at Midnight. The sub-heading is: ‘New Delhi, 30 January 1948’. Seventy-three years ago, on that day, a great soul was shot dead by a man who was driven by the darkness of hatred.

Gandhi has just completed his usual prayer session. He had recited a prayer from the Gita:

                        For certain is death for the born

                        and certain is birth for the dead;

                        Therefore over the inevitable

                        Thou shalt not grieve.

At that time Narayan Apte and Vishnu Karkare were moving to Retiring Room Number 6 at the Old Delhi railway station. They walked like thieves not wishing to be noticed by anyone. The early morning’s winter fog of Delhi gave them the required wrap. They found Nathuram Godse already awake in the retiring room. The three of them sat together and finalised the plot against Gandhi.

Godse thought he would pose as a photographer in order to get near to Gandhi. But they couldn’t get an appropriate camera. Then they told him to put on a Muslim burqa. When he tried a burqa on, he found out that it was an unwieldy dress that would hinder his mission. “I will be caught in this woman’s dress to my eternal shame without having killed Gandhi,” he said.

Finally they decided that Godse would wear a kind of greyish military suit that was very commonly used by people in those days. Its loose shirt could conceal a pistol inside.

Having completed all arrangements, they went to Birla Temple. Apte and Karkare went inside and offered homage to the idol of Lakshmi Narayan and Kali, the goddess of destruction, while Godse chose to stay in the garden drawing courage from the statue of Shivaji.

4.30 pm. Godse and his gang take a tonga to Birla House. There is no serious security check. Godse manages to merge into the crowd easily. Gandhi comes out and people chant, “Bapuji, Bapuji.’ Godse walks straight to Gandhi, bows in respect saying ‘Namaste Bapuji’. When he straightens himself he has a pistol in hand which fires instantly. Three rounds. Into the chest of a slender figure that couldn’t take so much.

‘Thank God the killer is a Hindu,’ Mountbatten mutters in relief hiding his grief bravely. The retaliation is focused on RSS offices now.

‘The light has gone out,’ Nehru announces to the nation. ‘But that light will be seen … the world will see it and it will give solace to innumerable hearts….That light represented the eternal truths, reminding us of the right path, drawing us from error, taking this ancient country to freedom.’

Gandhi’s death shows how dangerous it is to be good, George Bernard Shaw said.

The Hindustan Standard left its editorial page blank. However, at the centre of the page was a single paragraph: “Gandhi has been killed by his own people for whose redemption he lived. This second crucifixion in the history of the world has been enacted on a Friday – the same day Jesus was done to death 1915 years ago. Father, forgive us.”