Gopal Godse
{{Short description|Assassin of Mahatma Gandhi (died 2005)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gopal Godse
| image = Gopal Godse.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| birthname = Gopal Vinayak Godse
| birth_date = 12 June 1919
| birth_place = British India
| death_date = 26 November 2005 (aged 86)
| death_place = Pune, Maharashtra, India
| occupation =
| known_for = Co-conspirator in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi
| children =
| relatives = Nathuram Godse (brother)
}}
Gopal Vinayak Godse (12 June 1919 – 26 November 2005) was an Indian Hindutva activist convicted of conspiring to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.{{cite news | title=Obituary: Gopal Godse, 86, conspired to kill Gandhi | work=The New York Times | date=27 November 2005 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/world/asia/obituary-gopal-godse-86-conspired-to-kill-gandhi.html | access-date=4 December 2022}}{{cite news| title=Gandhi assassination plotter dies | work=Al Jazeera| date=29 November 2005 | url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9941A3E2-A809-4472-A277-996278C3BEC1.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051129020619/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9941A3E2-A809-4472-A277-996278C3BEC1.htm | archive-date=29 November 2005 | url-status=unfit | access-date=4 December 2022}}{{cite news | last=Nahar | first=Sunita | title=Mahatma Gandhi death plotter dies | work=BBC NEWS | date=28 November 2005 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4476866.stm | access-date=4 December 2022}}
Biography
A 2021 book about Gandhi's assassination stated that Gopal Godse worked at the time at a transportation company, and had previously served in the British Army during the Anglo-Iraqi War.{{cite book | last=Suresh | first=A.E. | last2=Kotamraju | first2=P. | title=The Murderer, The Monarch and The Fakir: A New Investigation of Mahatma Gandhi's Assassination | publisher=HarperCollins India | year=2021 | isbn=978-93-5489-061-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5U9EAAAQBAJ | access-date=4 December 2022 | at=Prologue}} Godse's brother Nathuram Godse fatally shot Gandhi on 30 January 1948. Gopal Godse was among those arrested soon after for conspiring to commit the assassination.{{cite book|author=Jagdish Chandra Jain|title=Gandhi, the Forgotten Mahatma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NurqxSttqjoC&pg=PA76|year=1987|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-037-6|pages=76–77}} The Godse's and their co-conspirators had previously attempted to kill Gandhi ten days earlier, an abortive attempt for which conspirator Madanlal Pahwa was arrested and imprisoned.{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/i-regret-i-wasnt-the-man-to-kill-gandhi/204997|title=Madanlal Pahwa outlook|website=Outlook India|access-date=18 November 2019}} Godse was convicted, and served 16 years in prison.{{cite web | title=Nathuram Godse, the RSS, and the Murder of Gandhi – MANAS | website=MANAS | date=30 January 1948 | url=https://southasia.ucla.edu/history-politics/hindu-rashtra/nathuram-godse-rss-murder-gandhi/ | access-date=4 December 2022}} His brother Nathuram and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death and hanged for their role in the assassination.
Godse was released in 1964. He did not repent of his role in the assassination, saying in a 2003 interview that he did not regret it. Godse lived in Pune after his release, subsisting on royalties from books he wrote about the assassination. In 1993 he released Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, a book written by his brother Nathuram. In an interview shortly afterward, he stated that Nathuram, himself, and their two brothers had all been long-time members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and had never left the organisation. The RSS had previously distanced itself from Gandhi's assassins. According to political commentator A. G. Noorani, two of his books, including one about the assassination, were promoted by the Organiser, the magazine of the RSS, in 1997.{{cite book | last=Noorani | first=A.G.A.M. | title=The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour | publisher=LeftWord Books | series=Green School Series | year=2000 | isbn=978-81-87496-13-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6PnBFW7cdtsC&pg=PT43 | access-date=11 December 2022 | pages=29, 43-47|author-link=A. G. Noorani}} He died in his home on 26 November 2005, as the last surviving member of the conspiracy. He was married to Sindhu Godse, and had two daughters and a son.
The Marathi language play Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy (This is Nathuram Godse Speaking), written by Pradeep Dalvi and first performed in 1997, was based on Gopal Godse's book May It Please You Honour.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Political-drama-surrounds-play-on-Nathuram-Godse/Article1-658335.aspx|title=Political drama surrounds play on Nathuram Godse|last=Kurian|first=Susamma|date=2011-02-04|publisher=HT Media|accessdate=9 April 2012|location=New Delhi|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324235733/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Political-drama-surrounds-play-on-Nathuram-Godse/Article1-658335.aspx|archivedate=24 March 2013}}{{cite book|author=Karline McLain|title=India's Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V4-Su0whKa0C&pg=PA192|accessdate=10 April 2012|date=11 February 2009|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-22052-3|pages=192}} According to Karline McLain the play "enacts Godse's defense plea" and thus "explores the assassination of Gandhi and the trial of Godse from Godse's point of view.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110220024339/http://www.time.com:80/time/asia/magazine/2000/0214/india.godse.html] 2000 interview of Godse in Time magazine.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godse, Gopal Vinayak}}
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Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II
Category:Indian people convicted of murder
Category:Indian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Category:Mahatma Gandhi assassination conspirators
Category:People convicted of murder by India