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ELECTIONS '98
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The Rediff Special/Pradeep Dalvi'Gandhi must be stopped at any cost'
Nathuram: I don't think, our Agrani is the mouthpiece of Hindu religion. When the government does not give importance to Hinduism, the question of being a mouthpiece does not arise. Our restraint is misinterpreted. Our massacre is neglected. They presume that we will bear everything with folded hands. Our anger has lost its fuel to burn, we know only the art of pardoning. They will torture us and massacre us and we will bear it coolly... it has become a law of nature. I don't think they will take cognisance of this mouthpiece of Hinduism. Yes, the government will think seriously while arguing the case in the court. Nana: Which case? Nathuram: IPC 302, the assassination of Gandhi. Nana: Pandit, what are you talking? Nathuram: Of course Nana, while writing the editorial, I was constantly telling myself -- these are not mere thoughts, they are a prelude to an action! Nana: I have utmost confidence that Nathuram can never make a mistake, he is always right. But I want to ask you something because a blind follower cannot be a genuine friend... Nathuram: Gandhi must be stopped at any cost. Nana: I do agree with you. Nathuram: And there is only one remedy to stop him. His assassination. Nana: But don't you think it's a hasty decision? Nathuram: You are wrong Nana. Assassination is never as easy as picking up a rifle and pulling the trigger, assassination is never an accident. Yes, murder could be an accident but not assassination. In this case of Gandhi, it could never be... Nana: Are you convinced that it is inevitable? Nathuram: Of course, it is not only inevitable, but is a delayed action. Nana: Don't you feel that we would be tampering with an important era of history? Nathuram: I differ with the word era. It could be a page, a leaf of history. Certainly not an era. Nana, if we don't turn this page today, the rest of the pages of the history of our nation will remain unwritten, blank... Nana: Listen, Pandit... Nathuram: Time is eternal, indestructible. You can turn its pages but never, never tear them out. Gandhi has acquired some position in history which nobody can deny, not even Nathuram. The page will be there forever in fact. Sometime in the future, in some storm, the pages will flutter and there will be that same Gandhi's page before the world. I don't refute Gandhi's theory of non-violence. He may be a saint but he is not a politician. His theory of non-violence denies self-defence and self-interest. The non-violence that defines the fight for survival as violence is a theory not of non-violence but of self-destruction. Nana: I do agree with you Pandit, but don't you think that your decision is risky, dangerous? Nathuram: But somebody has to do it! You can't afford to wait for somebody else to do it. It will be improper. Nana: If we picket severely? Nathuram: We have been doing it. Did it help? The division of the nation was an unnecessary decision. What was the percentage of the Muslim population as compared to the population of the nation? There was no need for a separate nation. Had it been a just demand, Maulana Azad would not have stayed back in India. But because Jinnah insisted and because Gandhi took his side, India was divided, in spite of opposition from the nation, the Cabinet. An individual is never greater than a nation, Nana. But Gandhi has stared considering himself greater than the nation. Nana: Jinnah wanted to be the prime minister... Nathuram: But we never opposed a Muslim prime minister. In a democracy you cannot put forward your demands at knife-point. Jinnah did it and Gandhi stabbed the nation with the same knife. He dissected the land and gave a piece to Pakistan. We did picket that time but in vain. The Father of our Nation went to perform his paternal duties for Pakistan. Nana: The Cabinet consented to that... Nathuram: The Cabinet also consented to the demand of Rs 55 crores today... Nana: They are also equally responsible. Nathuram: Of course, they are responsible! Gandhi blackmailed them with his fast unto death. His body, his threats to die are causing the destruction -- geographical as well as economical -- of the nation. Today, Muslims have taken a part of the nation, tomorrow Sikhs may ask for Punjab. The religions are again dividend into castes, they will demand sub-divisions of the divisions. What remains of the concept of one nation, national integration? Why did we fight the British in unison for independence? Why not separately? Bhagat Singh did not ask only for an independent Punjab or Subhash Chandra Bose for an independent Bengal? Nana: Pandit, if you will write this, people will get agitated, the government will get agitated, the government will have to bow down. Nathuram: I had written this before. At the time of Partition, when Suharawady surrendered only due to political pressure, but only Suharawady, not his followers...they went on with the massacre. Gandhi started his fast, the Hindus put their weapons down. I still remember that day. A poor Hindu told Gandhi, 'I am putting down my weapons because I don't want your death on my conscience but I am staying alone with my family in the Muslim area. That night, before leaving Hyderabad I visited his home. The whole household was screaming, weeping, his only eight-year-old son had been killed by the Muslims. He had no weapon to defend himself. He threw his son's body on my lap and said, "Take his blood to your Mahatma. Tell him, if he goes on fast again, he can finish it by drinking not orange-juice but my son's blood." I could not say anything. Gandhi was the Father of my Nation. For a moment, I was tempted to pull out the Muslims from their homes and chop them down. But I controlled myself. Violence for self-defence is justified, otherwise it is an ill-cultured act. I returned to where Gandhi was staying but he had already left by car. Of course, there would have been no point in meeting him... he would only have prayed for both the killer and the victim. Nana: Pandit, I sincerely feel that we should seek the advice of Tatyarao. Nathuram: No. Because I am going to assassinate Gandhi even if Tatyarao tells me not to. Then why involve him unnecessarily? I, neither want Tatyarao's involvement nor participation. He has suffered a lot for the nation. Now it is our turn. Tatyarao had once sad, if Gandhi is a political saint, then he should follow in the footsteps of Ramdas Swami. Ramdas Swami was always there to advise Shivaji whenever the need arose, but he never interfered. Nana: Pandit, if you are firm, then I promise you... Nathuram: I want two promises ... Nana: I promise! Nathuram: You didn't ask me what promises? Nana: A shadow has not to ask the body as to where it is going and why it is going? A shadow has just to be with the body, that's all. When I walk, you become my shadow Pandit, now you are walking... I will be your shadow. Nathuram: This is the first promise I want from you... This time I walk alone...mind you, alone... Nana: You have trapped me. Nathuram: But you promised me..! I am going to assassinate him in the open, before the public, because I am going to do it as my duty. If I do it surreptitiously, it becomes a crime in my own eyes. I will not try to escape, I will surrender and naturally I will be hanged. Nana: Pandit! Nathuram: One assassination, one hanging. I don't want two executions for one assassination and I don't want your involvement, participation or company. Nana: Pandit, you want to end our friendship of so many years? Nathuram: Of course not. At the time of hanging. I will remember my motherland, my parents and my friend -- you, Nana... Nana: But if I won't be with you, won't you feel lonely at the gallows? Nathuram: You promised me. Nana: What is the second promise? Nathuram: Today I wrote two editorials. I have not put any date on the second editorial as only God knows the date. I want you to print the second editorial in Agrani, the day after Gandhi's assassination. Nana: I promise you my friend. The first promise accidentally but the second promise out of necessity. (Nathuram is alone on the stage) Nathuram: I was convinced that though Gandhi is called the Father of the Nation, he delivers his paternal duties not towards India but towards Pakistan. I came to the decision that as a son of the soil, it was my first, foremost and divine duty to assassinate Gandhi. On January 30, I reached Birla Bhavan at 12 pm. Gandhi was sitting outside on a cot enjoying the sunshine. Vallabhbhai Patel's granddaughter was sitting at his feet. I had the revolver with me. I could have assassinated him easily then, but I was convinced that his assassination was to be a punishment and a sentence against him, and I would execute him. I wanted witnesses for the execution but there were none. I did not want to escape after the execution as there was not an iota of guilt in my mind. I wanted to surrender, but surrender to whom? There was a good crowd to collect for the evening prayers. I decided on the evening of January 30 as the date for Gandhi's execution.
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