Mahatma Gandhi neither uttered
the widely believed "Hey Ram" nor the recently claimed "Ram...
Ram" after he was shot from close range by Nathuram Godse, a
former aide of the Father of the Nation claims.
The death also came as the final blow to an already
"disillusioned Gandhi", 85-year-old Kalyanam Venkitaraman,
Gandhiji's then personal assistant, says.
"I was standing hardly half-a-metre from him when
(Nathuram) Godse pumped five bullets at Gandhi, with one
piercing his body. He fell down immediately and never uttered
a word," he said, recalling those tragic moments.
Ironically, the police did not inquire people,
including him, who were nearby Gandhi when he was shot.
"Somebody claimed he had heard Gandhi uttering Ram...
Ram, which was filed in the FIR.. but the truth is that not
one word was uttered. For, how can one do so when he is shot
at from such a short range?" Venkitaraman, who worked with
Gandhi from 1943 till his death in 1948, asked.
"He died a disheartened, disillusioned and
disappointed man," Venkitaraman told PTI here.
The communal clashes in the country had already
saddened Bapu, leading to his death being filled with
"disillusionment and disappointment", he said.
In a letter written four days before his death, Gandhi
expressed his "disillusionment".
Meanwhile, a yet-to-be-published book -- `Mahatma
Gandhi: Brahmacharya Ke Prayog' -- written by journalist
Dayashanker Shukla, claims that Gandhi's grand-daughter Manu
only heard him utter "Hei Ra...".
"Celebration of Independence Day with great pomp and
show was quite appropriate when we were fighting for
independence, which we had neither seen nor handled. Now, we
have handled it and seem to be disillusioned. At least I am,
even if you are not.
"What are we celebrating today? Surely, not our
disillusionment," are the words written by Gandhi, which has
been reproduced as a vinyl banner in Venkitaraman's house.
Though Godse was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh, Venkitaraman does not prefer to brand the movement as
"bad".
"Not all RSS men are bad as one cannot generalise.
Black sheep are found everywhere. In fact, V.D. Savarkar
advised Godse against harming Gandhi," he said.
An outspoken Gandhian, who calls himself a workaholic,
Venkitaraman is very critical of the present political and
administrative scenario in the country.
"The country has not developed in many important
areas, including education. Gandhi led the Independence
struggle with a vision to develop the nation," he said, while
ruing the fact that violence had become common in a country
which had achieved independence through non-violence.
He especially criticised the "huge allowances and
perks", offered to elected members and said Gandhi had
preached simplicity even for the elected members.
"But for a few incidents of communal clashes, the
nation was more peaceful during the British era," Venkitaraman
said.