Nathuram Godse Biography 
Nathuram Godse was the sole assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of Nation – India! He shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range on 30 January 1948 in New Delhi. He was a Hindu nationalist activist from Pune, and ex-member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and blamed Gandhi for his support to Muslims, despite being a Hindu. He believed that Gandhi showed partiality to Indian Muslims and plotted the assassination with Narayan Apte and six others. After a trial that lasted over a year, Godse was sentenced to death on 8 November 1949. He was hanged to death exactly one week later on 15 November 1949 in Ambala prison of Punjab provinces.
Nathuram Vinayakrao Godse was born in a Marathi Hindu family in Pune on 19 May 1910. He was born in Baramati village. His birth name was Ramachandra. The parents had already lost all their three sons before the birth of Nathuram, though a daughter was survived. So they brought him up as a girl for the first few years of his life and even pierced his nose and wore him nose rings. It was then that he earned the nickname "Nathuram" (literally "Ram with a nose-ring"). When a younger brother was born to him, he was later brought up as a boy. Godse dropped out of high school and became an activist with Hindu Mahasabha, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). They opposed to the separatist politics of the All India Muslim League.
Godse started a Marathi newspaper for Hindu Mahasabha called Agrani, which was later renamed as Hindu Rashtra. He was against many of the views of Gandhi who supported Indian Muslims. He blamed Gandhi for the partition of India which resulted in the death of thousands from both sides. It is said to be one of the major reasons behind his decision to kill Gandhi. Godse approached Gandhi on January 30, 1948 during the evening prayer at 5:15PM and shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point-blank range with a Beretta M 1934 semi-automatic pistol.
Following the death of Gandhi, the Hindu Mahasabha was vilified and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was temporarily banned. But it has not been proved yet that RSS had connection with this conspiracy. Thus RSS ban was lifted in 1949.
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Updated: January 16, 2014
