Sentytwo years ago Jan.- 30- 1948

Permitted assassination in January 1948 is remembered in the 150 years of Gandhi..

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The Last day of Mahatma Gandhi

V. Kalyanam, personal secretary to Mahatma Gandhi, recounted Friday, 30
January, 1948, the day Mahatma was shot. V K was just behind Gandhi
when he was shot.
Mahatma Gandhi arrived in Delhi on Tuesday, 9 September 1947, from
Calcutta. He was staying in Birla House at Albuquerque Road (now
renamed Tees January Marg—30th January Road). A large carpeted room
with an attached toilet was placed at his disposal for use by his entourage.
This was an all-purpose room in the ground floor of the huge mansion. A
thick cotton mattress and a huge pillow to recline, with a desk in front, was
placed in one corner of the room. At the other end was a table and chair
piled with correspondence. Gandhiji usually spent the whole day here
attending to his correspondence, talking to people, spinning his charkha
and taking his midday siesta. There was also a balcony, fully enclosed with
glass doors, adjoining the room where he would sleep at nights on the
carpeted floor, along with the rest of us.
Friday, 30 January 1948, dawned like any other day. We never knew what
was going to happen in the evening. We got up as usual for our prayers at
3.30. We went about our daily routine with no thought about what the day
had in store for us. Gandhiji roused his grand niece Abha to get up.
After his ablutions, Gandhiji came out of the toilet and squatted on the
mattress. We sat before him. Gandhiji’s day always commenced with
prayer. He described prayer as the key of the morning and bolt of the

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evening. His prayers included recitations from the scriptures of all religions,
particularly Hindusim and Islam, in order to stress the essential unity of all
religions.
He closed his eyes in meditation. Abha was still asleep. He had noticed her
absence. Prayer was held without Abha’s participation. Immediately after
the prayer Manu went to the kitchen to fetch Gandhi ji’s morning
beverage—a glass of hot water mixed with a tablespoonful of honey and
lime. When she handed him the marble tumbler of nectar, Gandhiji told her
in Gujarati, ‘It appears my influence, even among my close companions, is
waning. Prayer is like a broomstick meant to cleanse one’s soul. Abha’s
failure to participate in the prayer pains me. You are aware of the
importance I attach to prayer. If you have the courage, you may, on my
behalf convey my displeasure to her. If she is not willing to participate in the
prayer she should take leave of me. This will be in our joint interest!’
Meanwhile, Abha got up and started attending to her work. Gandhiji, did
not, for reasons known to him, confront her directly. I continued to sit by his
side to receive my instructions for the day. He wanted me to make
arrangements for his visit to Sevagram for ten days from 2nd February. I
placed before him the typed draft of the new constitution for the Indian
National Congress he had dictated to me the previous day, suggesting its
disbandment and reconstitution as a new body with greater emphasis on
social service and rural uplift. He was not inclined to go through it. He
summoned my superior Pyarelalji and handed the draft to him with
instructions to peruse it carefully and make any suggestions or corrections
that he may consider necessary.

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I Do Not Wish to Live Long
Conditions in Delhi were far from normal those days. There had been
communal disturbances owing to the large influx of Hindu refugees from
Pakistan. Having gone through unpleasant experiences at the hands of
Muslims in Pakistan, they wanted to take revenge on Muslims in Delhi.
Delegations of Muslim and Hindu leaders called on him everyday to
discuss ways and means of restoring normalcy in the capital.
During those cold winter days, Gandhiji preferred to spend the day sitting
on a charpoy in the open lawn, basking in the sun. His daily engagements
were crowded. He could never be seen idle. When he had no appointments
he would be busy writing letters and articles in Gujarati, Hindi and English.
While Ministers and other VIPs visited him by prior appointment, Pandit
Nehru, whenever he was in station, made it a point to call on Gandhiji, at
about 9 am, on his way to office.
Among the prominent visitors who met Gandhiji that day was Mrs. R.K.
Nehru, who came in at 6 am. She was scheduled to leave for USA in the
afternoon. At her request Gandhiji gave her an autographed photograph
with the message, ‘As a representative of a poor nation, you should lead a
simple and frugal life while you are there’. At 2 pm, Margaret Bourke White,
famous photographer of the Life magazine interviewed Gandhiji. In the
course of her conversation, she asked him, “You have always stated that
you would like to live up to 125. What gives you that hope?” Gandhiji
surprised her by answering that he no longer entertained that hope. When
questioned why, he replied, “Because of the terrible happenings in the
world. I do not want to live in darkness”.

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Most of his time at Birla House was spent in writing letters, meeting visitors
and prayers. Soon after she left, Prof N.R. Malkhani, our Deputy High
Commissioner in Pakistan, met Gandhiji with two others and told him of the
sad plight of the Hindus of Sind. After hearing them patiently, Gandhi
replied, “These things would not have happened had people listened to me.
I say things, which do not go home, yet I go on saying what I believe to be
true. I know that I am a ‘back number’.”
Bob Stimsom of the BBC, who had submitted some questions to Gandhiji,
was to meet him after the prayers. He had already arrived and proceeded
straight to the lawn where Gandhiji was to hold the prayer. Chief Minister U
N Dhebar and Rasiklal Parekh from Kathiawar and the celebrated author
Vincent Shean, who had some interviews with Gandhiji in the last few days,
had also come without prior appointment in the hope of meeting Gandhiji.
All of them were disappointed.
Birla House had its own watchmen at the gate. There had been objections
to the recitation of the Koran at Gandhiji’s earlier public meetings in the
previous year. Sardar Patel had therefore, in his capacity as Home
Minister, ordered the deployment of one head constable and four foot-
constables at Birla House as a precautionary measure.
Bomb Explodes at Gandhiji’s Prayer Meeting
There was a bomb explosion at the prayer meeting on 20 January. Madan
Lal, the Punjabi refugee had thrown a bomb, but it didn’t hit him. A wall was
broken that’s all and Gandhi never thought somebody had come to kill him.
Gandhiji had undertaken a fast against the Government of India’s decision
to hold back payment of Pakistan’s share of the cash balances (Rs. 50 Cr)

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due to them on the ground that Pakistan had connived with the Afridi
tribesmen to invade and occupy Kashmir. To save Gandhiji’s life, the
government relented and released the amount. Fundamentalist Hindus
were infuriated by Gandhiji’s tactics and felt that he was appeasing
Muslims to the detriment of the Hindu community. The bomb incident
referred to was a consequence of this.
The police guards at Birla House were therefore increased. They had
instructions to stop all persons who appeared to be of doubtful character.
However, the police considered that to make the precautions more effective
they should be permitted to search every visitor entering the compound to
attend the prayer or at other times. When a police Superintendent
approached me with this proposal, I consulted Gandhiji. He did not agree to
the search and I informed the Superintendent accordingly. This decision
was conveyed to the higher authorities and within minutes the DIG arrived
and sought permission to speak to Gandhiji. I ushered him in. The DIG
represented that there was danger to his life and the facilities asked for
should be allowed as otherwise the police would be discredited if any
mishap took place.
Men Who Want Security Have No Right To Live: Gandhi
Gandhiji would have none of it and told him bluntly that his life was in the
hands of God and that if he had to die no precautions could save him.
‘Those who preferred security to freedom had no right to live’, he said. He
would rather stop holding public prayer meetings than agree to any such
personal search. Police in plain clothes were then asked to keep a watch
on suspicious characters and prevent anyone from attacking Gandhiji while

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he was on his way to the prayer and back. At two in the afternoon Abha
and Manu had, with Gandhiji’s permission, gone to visit some friends,
promising to return in time for the evening prayers. The responsibility of
serving Gandhiji’s evening meal fell on me. Although the government had
been in office for only five months, the media was full of alleged differences
between Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel. Gandhiji was distressed with
these rumours and wanted to counter this. He was even thinking of asking
Sardar Patel to resign so that Nehru may have a free hand to conduct the
affairs of the country. But that didn’t happen. He had summoned Patel for a
discussion at 4 pm and intended to speak on the subject after the prayers,
but that was not to be. Accompanied by his daughter Maniban, Patel
arrived on time when Gandhiji was having his frugal supper. While they
were conversing, Abha and Manu had also arrived.
The Last Meeting with Sardar Patel
Prayer was scheduled to start at 5 pm. The discussion between Gandhiji
and Patel continued beyond 5 pm. In view of the imp ortance and
seriousness of the talk, none of us dared to disturb them. The girls
gestured to Sardar’s daughter Maniben and the talk ended at 5.10 pm.
After that, Gandhi went to the toilet and immediately proceeded to the
prayer ground, which was nearly 30-40 yards away. There were four or five
steps and then there was a big lawn. Gandhiji was late by fifteen minutes
for the prayer meeting. There were about 250 people anxiously awaiting his
arrival. I could see from the distance that the attention of the gathering was
focused on Gandhiji’s room. And, as he emerged, I heard people saying,
‘There comes Gandhiji’. The word went round when all necks craned and
eyes stared in his direction. Gandhiji walked briskly as usual with his head

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bent and his glance glued to the ground, supporting himself on the
shoulders of the two grand nieces. I was following closely to his left.
I heard him admonishing the girls for not telling him that it was getting late
for the prayer meeting. He told them that they were his time-keepers. “I am
late. I do not like all this,” he added. When Manu replied that they did not
want to interrupt because of the serious nature of their talks, Gandhiji shot
back, “It is the duty of a nurse to give medicines at the right time to a
patient. If there is delay the patient may die”.
When Nathuram Godse Fired His Shots...
We ascended the steps leading to the prayer platform. People stood with
folded hands and Gandhiji reciprocated. They made way for him to go to
the rostrum, about 25 feet from the steps, where he would sit on a one-foot-
high wooden dais. The assassin (Nathuram Godse) had obviously been
waiting in this crowd hiding a revolver in his pocket. Gandhiji had walked
hardly five or six paces when the assassin fired some shots in quick
succession from close range resulting in the Mahatma’s instantaneous
death. He fell behind bleeding profusely and in that melee, his spectacles
and footwear were thrown asunder. I was too shocked and dumb-founded
to react. Later, in loneliness, tears came to my eyes.
The news spreads fast. Within minutes, a crowd started gathering outside
Birla House and the gate had to be closed to prevent people entering the
premises. Patel had already left. I rushed to my room and conveyed the
news to Nehru’s office by phone. In those days we had free access to
Ministers’ residences. I pushed my way through the crowd, got into a

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waiting car and sped to Patel’s house, hardly five minutes drive, to inform
him of the calamity.
Meantime, his body was lifted and carried to his room. There he lay on the
mat with people around him. He looked as if he was asleep. His body was
warm for quite some time. Night was passed with distress and tears—not
for a few chosen ones, but for the millions all over the world for whom he
lived and died.
Immediately after Gandhiji’s body was carried away to his room, there was
a scramble from the public to possess something belonging to Gandhiji as
a souvenir. They started removing a handful of earth from the place where
Gandhiji fell to the assassin’s bullet, leaving a big pit there within hours.
Arrangements were then made to have the area cordoned and a guard was
posted there.
In this connection, detailing the precautions taken by the government to
protect Mahatma Gandhi prior to and after the bomb explosion at his prayer
meetings, the Home Minister, Sardar Patel declared, “I had personally
pleaded with Bapu to permit the police to do their duty in regard to his
protection but without success. To my profound regret and utter sorrow and
to the irreparable loss of all of us, the nation and the world, the weak spot
both I and the police had apprehended was deceitfully and successfully
exploited by the assassin and Gandhiji’s prophetic words that, if he had to
die, no precaution could save him, came true”.
“Gandhi never uttered ‘Hey Ram’ when he was shot at”
It is widely stated that Gandhiji invoked God saying, “Hey Ram” as he was
assassinated. There was no possibility at all of his uttering a single syllable

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although he had often proclaimed that he would like to die with the name of
Ram on his lips. This speculative comment by some enterprising, shrewd
reporter has gained worldwide currency, the authenticity of which has never
been verified.
A monumental falsehood has been thrust into the mouth of the apostle of
truth. Had he been sick or bed-ridden, he would have surely invoked Ram.
But here he was denied that opportunity. It is indeed very strange that the
commission that was appointed to probe into Gandhiji’s killing never
thought of making any enquiries from any one of us who were so close to
him on that day.
In his last few days in his post-prayer speeches, Gandhiji had been
repeatedly expressing the wish that God take him away since he did not
want to be a silent witness to the monstrous barbarities that were going on
in the country. I thought God had answered his prayer through the
assassin. He had a glorious death while he was walking towards God and
not on sick bed. He died without anguish, without pain for a moment.