Why a Hindu nationalist ended the life of India's most famous advocate for peace

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: On January 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was shot dead in New Delhi. His assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a Hindu extremist who believed Gandhi had betrayed the nation by being too lenient toward Muslims during the partition of India and Pakistan. This act of violence silenced a global icon of nonviolent resistance.

The 78-year-old Gandhi had spent his life championing satyagraha, or civil disobedience, to secure India's independence from British rule. By the time of his death, the country had recently achieved sovereignty on August 15, 1947, following the Indian Independence Act. However, this transition triggered massive communal violence and population displacement. Gandhi, deeply distressed by the bloodshed, traveled to New Delhi to fast for peace and lead prayer meetings.

Nathuram Godse, an acolyte of the right-wing Hindutva ideology, had long targeted Gandhi. He had previously attempted to kill him with a knife in 1944 and later tried to use a grenade at Birla House on January 20, 1948. Godse viewed Gandhi’s influence over the Indian government—specifically his successful pressure to release funds to Pakistan during the Kashmir conflict—as a direct threat to Hindu interests. He saw the assassination as a purely political necessity to stop what he perceived as Gandhi's harmful conciliation.

On the evening of January 30, 1948, as Gandhi walked toward a prayer dais at Birla House, Godse approached him and fired three shots from a concealed revolver. Gandhi collapsed, reportedly uttering his final words, "He Ram." The aftermath was immediate and chaotic; riots broke out in cities like Bombay, and the nation entered a period of profound mourning. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru delivered a radio address, famously declaring that the light had gone out of their lives.

A special trial held at the historic Red Fort in May 1948 resulted in the conviction of Godse and seven others. In his 30,000-word confession, Godse claimed sole responsibility for the act, framing it as a response to the partition and communal strife. Despite pleas for mercy from Gandhi’s sons, the state proceeded with the sentence. On November 15, 1949, Godse and his primary accomplice, Narayan Apte, were put to death by hanging in Ambala jail.

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