Gandhi's Assassin The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India

Dhirendra K. Jha has anatomized with calm resourcefulness the politics and psychology of a fanatic. He has also written a secret and sinister history of modern India-the one we need to understand our ruinous present-PANKAJ MISHRAA confirmed bigot and an oddball the man who became Gandhis assassin was something of a miracle baby. Born to Brahmin parents after several stillbirths Nathuram Godse started off as a child mystic. However success in everything serious-studies or work-eluded him. The expectations and frustrations that mark the path of young men who cannot cope with the changing tides form the basis of Dhirendra K. Jhas spectacular study of this disaffected youth. Godse was one of hundreds and later thousands of young Indian men to be steered into the sheltering fold of early Hindutva. As disruptions to history evolved new social structures these men were caught by ideologues cocooned in a community and coached and readied for action. Gandhis Assassin The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India lays bare Godses relationship with the organizations that influenced his world view and gave him a sense of purpose. The book draws out the gradual hardening of Godses resolve and the fateful decisions and intrigue that eventually led to in the chaotic aftermath of Indias independence in 1947 Mahatma Gandhis assassination. On a wintry Delhi evening on 30 January 1948 Godse shot Gandhi at point-blank range forever silencing the great man. Godses journey to this moment of international notoriety from small towns in western India is by turns both riveting and wrenching. Drawing from previously unpublished archival material Jha challenges the sanitization of Gandhis assassination and offers a stunning view on the making of independent India. Review InGandhis Assassin Dhirendra K. Jha has anatomized with calm resourcefulness the politics and psychology of a fanatic. He has also written a secret and sinister history of modern India-the one we need to understand our ruinous present. -- Pankaj MishraThis book goes beyond the plot that resulted in Mahatma Gandhis assassination which the author meticulously analyses. It is indeed highly revealing of the omnipresence of the RSS on the Indian political scene in the 1940s. If the organization did not fight British colonialism and did not contest elections it was intimately related to Savarkars Hindu Mahasabha the first Hindutva party and more importantly organically linked to the Hindu Rashtra Dal a militant body co-founded by Nathuram Godse-a man who as Dhirendra K. Jha shows never left the RSS. -- Christophe JaffrelotDhirendra Jhas book is not just a very readable and credible account of the plot and the people behind Gandhis murder including a psychological analysis of his assassin but a comprehensive study of the wider politics of the Hindu Mahasabha the RSS and their leaders including Savarkar which makes it a must-read and highly relevant in todays context. -- Mridula Mukherjee About the Author Dhirendra K. Jha is a Delhi-based journalist. He is the author ofShadow Armies Fringe Organizations and Foot Soldiers of Hindutva andAscetic Games Sadhus Akharas and the Making of the Hindu Vote. He is the co-author ofAyodhya The Dark Night The Secret History of Ramas Appearance in Babri Masjid.