On June 25 1934, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was in Pune along with his wife, Kasturba Gandhi, to deliver a speech at Corporation Auditorium. They were travelling in a motorcade of two cars. En route, they came across a railway level crossing. The car in which the couple was travelling was delayed and the first car reached the auditorium. Just when the first car arrived at the auditorium, a bomb was thrown, which exploded near the car. This caused grievous injury to the Chief Officer of the Pune Municipal Corporation, two policemen and seven others. Nevertheless, no account or records of the investigation nor arrests made can be found. Gandhi's secretary, Pyarelal Nayyar believes that the attempt failed due to lack of planning and co-ordination.
The second attempt on the life of Mahatma Gandhi may not have been an attempt to assassinate as much as a demonstration of anger by an angry young man who tried to bow down to the great soul Gandhi and was rejected. In May 1944, Gandhi was sent from Agha Khan Palace prison and soon after he contracted malaria. by evening, during the prayer meeting, Nathuram Godse rushed towards Gandhi with a dagger shouting anti-Gandhi slogans. He was unable to reach Gandhi as he was overpowered.
The third attempt was also a demonstration. However, people who testified before the Kapur Commission referred it as an attempt to murder. Mahatma Gandhi began his talks with Mohammad Ali Jinnah on 9 September 1944 which lasted for 14 days. While leaving for Mumbai from Sevagram Ashram, a group of Hindu activists stopped him. They did not want him to go to Mumbai to hold talks with Jinnah, however, these protesters were stopped by volunteers of the ashram.The leader of this group, Nathuram Godse, was again found in possession of a dagger.
June 29, 1946, the train carrying Mahatma Gandhi called Gandhi Special derailed between Neral and Karjat stations of Mumbai Section. The report submitted by the motorman or driver of the train claimed that boulders were placed on the tracks of the train, with the intention to derail it. The train had crashed into the boulders. The Pune police claimed that the boulders were placed by looters to stop trains carrying goods. The police have not disclaimed sabotage. Since the Gandhi Special was the only train on that route at that time, and there were no goods trains on the section, either before or after, it is plausible that Gandhi must have been the target.
On January 20, 1948, Madanlal Pahwa, Shankar Kistaiya, Digambar Badge, Vishnu Karkare, Gopal Godse, Nathuram Godse, and Narayan Apte came to Birla Bhavan (aka Birla House) in Delhi to carry out another attack on Mahatma Gandhi. Except for Madanlal Pahwa and Vishnu Karkare, everyone else reached the venue through the rear entrance in a cab.On interrogation, Madanlal Pahwa admitted that he was part of a seven member gang who wanted to kill Gandhi. The plan was that Madanlal Pahwa would explode a bomb as close to the podium as possible while Digambar Bagde or Shankar Kishtaiyya would shoot Gandhi in the head during the ensuing panic and stampede, using the chaotic situation to cover their escape.
After the failed attempt at Birla House, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte returned to Pune via Mumbai. With the help of Dr. Dattatraya Parchure and Gangadhar Dandavate, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte purchased a Beretta Semi-automatic firearm and eleven rounds of ammunition at Gwalior and reached Delhi on January 29, 1948, checking into the Retiring room No. 6 at Delhi Railway Station. On January 30, 1948, at 5:17 p.m., Nathuram Godse got close enough to Mahatma Gandhi and shot him three times in his chest at point-blank range.
The last word(s) uttered by Mahatma Gandhi are still a matter of debate. Venkita Kalyanam, former personal assistant to Mr. Gandhi, said that he was present at the spot and that Gandhi said "oh". So where did the 'Hey Ram' come from??? Made up ??
In the First Information Report there is no statement that any doctor was called. There has been no explanation of why he was not rushed to hospital and was instead taken to Birla House, where he died later.
Cannot rely on history books anymore !!
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