Voices of criticism of Gandhi got muted after assassination: Indologist Elst

When Mahatma Gandhi was alive, there was far more criticism of him but those voices got muted after his assassination, says Belgian orientalist and Indologist Koenraad Elst who has come out with a book which seeks to find Nathuram Godse's motive behind the killing.

For Elst, the book "Why I Killed The Mahatma: Understanding Godse's Defence" is an attempt at normalisation of the discourse on Gandhi.

"In some respects, he was original and simply right, in others he was misguided, unbalanced and sometimes even dangerously foolish. The very fact of this murder has confined the discourse on him to pure hagiography," he says.

"When he was alive, there was far more criticism of him, of various types, but those voices got muted after Godse had fired his bullets," Elst told PTI.

The author says during his PhD research on the Hindu movement in general, he happened to meet Gopal Godse, then also Madanlal Pahwa, the last surviving members of the conspiracy resulting in Nathuram Godse's act.

Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948 in the compound of Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) and nine accused were tried for the conspiracy and the murder. The trial court on February 10, 1949, convicted seven accused and acquitted one. Accused Godse and Narayan Apte were given death sentence.

"I realised the importance of the event they had been a part of, and decided to go to the heart of the matter," Elst says about the origin of the book, published by Rupa.

Asked about the root cause of what he calls in the book distortion of facts about Godse and others in general, he says there is a lot more ignorance about it than deliberate distortion.

"Then again, that ignorance was also the result of a design, namely by Jawaharlal Nehru, perpetuated by the Congress governments. They planted some false notions in the story of the murder intrigue, such as the claim that before the murder, Godse went to get blessings from his mentor V D Savarkar," he claims.

"On the murder's motive too, the conventional version is false. It is always said that Godse reproached Gandhi for giving equal treatment to Islam, but in reality, that was a price Godse was willing to pay to keep India united," he further claims.

"Some even allege that Godse killed Gandhi for casteist reasons, when Godse himself had taken part in Gandhian anti-untouchability campaigns," Elst says.

He argues that like most champions of an undivided India at that time, Godse was quite willing to make some concessions to the Muslims.

"This would be less than secular, but then the supposedly secular Indian republic does the same. Thus, he did not particularly care for full secularism such as by having a Common Civil Code. But he certainly did not advocate the anti-Hindu discriminations which India now takes for granted," he says.

Asked whether the people of India would forgive Godse, Elst says, "Some have never blamed him: mostly the members of communities most victimised by Partition, such as the Sikhs. Forgiving is done by victims, and in a sentimental sense, many Indians of those days were indeed bereaved by the assassination. But among today's Indians, I don't think many still care about the event."

Elst points out that for those who support the murder, it was totally counterproductive.

"It made Gandhi's aura of infallibility unquestionable, and it set the Hindu movement back by decades, not just weakening it enormously but also making it much less Hindu, as exemplified by Narendra Modi's Nehruvian stress on 'development' instead of on Hindu interests," he says.

In the book, Elst's monograph underlines the insuperable contradictions posed by the Indian discourse on secularism and communalism. He also adds his own assessment of Gandhi's successes as well as perversity in promoting hostile interests.

Elst compares Godse's case against Gandhi with criticisms voiced in wider circles, and with historical data known at the time or brought to light since. While Gandhi was extolled by the Hindu masses, political leaders of divergent persuasions who had had dealings with him were less enthusiastic.

Their sobering views would have become the received wisdom about Gandhi if he hadn't been martyred. Yet, the author also presents some new considerations in Gandhi's defence from unexpected quarters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)