The 78-year-old Gandhi, reverently called Mahatma as a sign of respect, spent much of his adult life advocating a right to peaceful protests as the way for India to gain its independence from Great Britain, which had ruled India directly since 1858. Independence was finally declared on August 15, 1947, about a month after the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act, which partitioned British India into the countries of India and Pakistan. Amid growing communal violence, Gandhi traveled to New Delhi, India’s capital, to take part in a fast for peace and to participate in prayer meetings.
At about 5:15 pm, Gandhi and his two granddaughters left Birla House, where he had been living, with the intent of leading his followers to a nearby summer pagoda where he often made his evening devotions. Nathuram Godse approached the frail politician, greeted him, then fired three shots at close range from a small-caliber revolver that he had hidden in his clasped hands. As Gandhi fell to the ground, he put his hand to his forehead in the Hindu gesture of forgiveness. He was quickly carried back into Birla House and placed on a couch, his head resting in the lap of his granddaughter Mani, who minutes later told the crowd: ‘Bapu is finished.’ His final words were, allegedly, “He Ram, He Ram” (“Oh God, Oh God”).
A few hours after Gandhi’s death, a balcony window at Birla House was opened and Gandhi’s body was carried outside and placed in a chair facing the crowd. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave a radio address later in the evening in which he proclaimed a day of national mourning and appealed for calm:
“The light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere. I do not know what to tell you and how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the Father of the Nation, is no more.… We will not run to him for advice and seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow….The light has gone out, I said, and yet I was wrong….The light that has illumined this country for these many years will illumine this country for many more years, and a thousand years later, that light will be seen in this country and the world will see it and it will give solace to innumerable hearts...”
(A Radio Broadcast delivered on January 30th, 1948).
At the end of his speech, Nehru informed listeners that Gandhi’s body would be brought out at 11:30 am the following day and taken to the banks of the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges, and cremated there at 4 pm.
Gandhiji was a man of peace and tolerance who advocated communal harmony and peaceful harmony and sacrificed his life to uphold the notion of non-violence. The pain of his tragic death was not felt by the Indians only but by the Pakistani people and political leaders who expressed their sorrow on the floor of the Constituent Assembly (Legislatures) by making a reference of condolences on the tragic death of Mr. Gandhi. What follows is verbatim the excerpts from the speeches of the members of the Assembly expressing their deep sorrow over Gandhiji's death.
On Monday, the 23rd of February, 1948, the Constituent Assembly (Legislature) of Pakistan met in the Assembly Chamber; Karachi, at Elven of the Clock, being the First Day of the First Session of the Constituent Assembly (Legislature). The President (Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah) was in the Chair.
Gandhiji was a man of peace and tolerance who advocated communal harmony and peaceful harmony and sacrificed his life to uphold the notion of non-violence
The very first business transected by the Assembly, after the members were sworn in as members, was the adoption of a reference of condolences on the tragic death of Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan (Leader of the House) made a reference to condolences in the following words:
“Mr. President, Sir, it is with a sense of deep sorrow that I rise to make a reference to the tragic death of Gandhiji. He was, Sir, undoubtedly one of the greatest men of our time, and during the last 30 years, he occupied a very prominent place on the stage of Indian politics. Sir, it would be no exaggeration to say that the present strength and greatness that the Congress Party enjoys is due mainly, if not solely, to the efforts- the untiring efforts and leadership of Gandhiji.
Mr. President, 30 years ago Gandhiji preached the doctrine of non-violence and it is indeed an irony of fate that the man who had been preaching for the last 30 years the doctrine of non-violence should be a victim of an assassin's bullet. Sir, as the House is aware, during the last few months, the people of India lost their sanity, and communalism in its worst form of murder, rape, and arson was rampant in the unfortunate country. Gandhiji realised that if this cult was to continue, it would mean the ruination and destruction of not only the minorities but of the whole nation, and he, as he had always been anxious for communal harmony, threw himself heart and soul to this work of establishing communal harmony in India, and everyone knows that even at the risk of his life he carried on his noble mission and the immediate cause of his death-his tragic death-is certainly due to his efforts at re-establishing communal harmony in India, All those who are well-wishers of the country, all those who love harmony and peace, would always remember this supreme sacrifice that Gandhiji has made in the cause which every one of us desires so much.
Mr. President, his death, especially at this juncture, is indeed an irreparable loss to India, and we send our sympathy and our deep sorrow to the people of the sister Dominion of India in their great bereavement We hope and pray that what Gandhiji could not achieve in his life might be fulfilled after his death, that is, the establishment of peace and harmony between the various communities inhabiting this sub-continent.
I would request you, Mr. President, to send on behalf of this House our sympathies, as I said, to the people of India and Gandhiji's relations.”
Constituent Assembly (Legislature) Debates dated 23rd February, 1948.
The speech of Mr. Liaquat Ali was followed by the other members who not only associated themselves with this reference of condolences but also expressed their deep grief over the tragic death of Gandhiji and rendered their tributes for the departed soul.
Khwaja Nazimuddln, a Muslim member from East Bengal who also became later the second Governor-General of Pakistan (1948-1952) and second Prime Minister (1951-1953) of Pakistan, extends his gratitude that:
“Gandhiji led the freedom movement of pre-partition India and Hindus and Muslims joined together in that movement. After the partition, Mr. Gandhi r recognised that partition was an accomplished fact and he impressed upon the leaders of India that in the interests of Pakistan and India it was necessary that the two Dominions should work together in harmony and cooperation…”
Constituent Assembly (Legislature) Debates dated 23rd February, 1948.
While we remember Gandhiji today, the greatest tribute that we can offer is to take a pledge to dedicate ourselves to the truth, and to the cause for which he lived and for which he died
Mumtaz Mohammad Khan DauItana, a Muslim member from West Punjab, who was defense minister (10 October 1957 – 18 December 1957) and Chief Minister of West Punjab (15 April 1951 – 3 April 1953) expresses his grief:
“We believe that Mahatma Gandhi was fighting for a noble cause, that is for the maintenance of communal peace and harmony between the various peoples of Hindustan and Pakistan, and that he realised more than others that it is only on the basis of peace and good-will that the two great sister Dominions can prosper…Sir, by his martyrdom the two great communities, the Hindus and Muslims, inhabiting the two great Dominions of India and Pakistan, will find friendship, concord, and goodwill towards each other...”
Constituent Assembly (Legislature) Debates dated 23rd February, 1948.
Mr. Sris Chandra Chattopadhyaya, General member from East Bengal and Opposition Leader in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan highlighted the reason why Gandhiji was assassinated:
“Why did the man kill him? It was because Gandhiji was preaching communal harmony and a non-theocratic State in Pakistan and Hindustan. There are people who are for the Hindu State and Muslim State. Those who wanted a Hindu State conspired to kill Gandhiji. I do not want a Hindu State or a Muslim State. What I want is Peoples State and that was preached by Gandhiji and that is, in my opinion, the cause of his death…”
Constituent Assembly (Legislature) Debates dated 23rd February, 1948.
Mr. Mohammad Ayub Khuhro, a Muslim member from Sind who was a defense minister (9 April 1958 – 7 October 1958) in the Cabinet of the seventh Prime Minister Malik Feroz Khan Noon who had been in office from 16 December 1957, until being removed when the President Iskandar Ali Mirza imposed martial law, though Mr. Mirza himself got ousted in the 1958 first military coup led by General Ayub Khan in 1958. Mr. Khuhro has also been in office thrice as the chief minister of Sind.
“Gandhiji was undoubtedly one of the greatest men that the world has produced and one the greatest leaders of his time. He tried hard to achieve independence and freedom for this country from the foreign yoke and he struggled for a number of years and was a great believer in non-violence. But the tragedy is that he fell victim to violence...”
Constituent Assembly (Legislature) Debates dated 23rd February, 1948.
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the President of the Assembly extended his gratitude to the soul of Gandhiji in the following words:
“I share the expressions of sorrow and grief given by this House and associate myself in the tribute that has been paid to his greatness. I would further add that he died in the discharge of the duty in which he was engaged. He was a man of principles and when he was convinced and when he believed that it was his duty he took it upon his shoulders to perform it and his tragic death occurred in the discharge of his duty. However much it may be deplored and condemned, it was a noble death, as he died in the discharge of his duty in which he believed. I will convey the message as desired by you, Mr. Prime Minister, in due course.”
Constituent Assembly (Legislature) Debates dated 23rd February, 1948.
To conclude, while we remember Gandhiji today, the greatest tribute that we can offer is to take a pledge to dedicate ourselves to the truth, and to the cause for which he lived and for which he died. That is the gratitude that we can offer him and his memory. The best way and most fitting way to pay homage to this great soul is to reiterate the democratic ideals he propagated to promote communal harmony in the present-day extremism-ridden society and hate-ridden politics of both India and Pakistan. Gandhiji’s notion of peaceful coexistence can ensure the economic prosperity of the people of India and Pakistan and can also potentially prove helpful in countering the menace of religious extremism and terrorism in the whole region of South Asia.