Godse is often a misunderstood character. He is referred to as a Hindu fanatic.

It is often hard to understand Godse because the Government of India had suppres
sed information about him. His court statements, letters etc. were all banned fr
om the public until recently. Judging from his writings one thing becomes very c
lear
He was no fanatic. His court statements are very well read out and indicate
a calm and collected mental disposition. He never even once speaks ill about Ga
ndhi as a person, but only attacks Gandhi's policies which caused ruin and untol
d misery to Hindus. Another interesting point to note is that Godse had been wor
king with the Hindu refugees fleeing from Pakistan. He had seen the horrible atr
ocities committed on them. Many women had their hands cut off, nose cut off, eve
n little girls had been raped mercilessly. Despite this Godse did not harm even
single Muslim in India which he could easily have. So it would be a grave mistak
e to call him a Hindu fanatic.
Let us start by studying the motive behind Godse's act. By seeing the nature of
the assassination in public space and Godse's act of turning himself over to the
Police, we can see that Godse did not do this for personal reasons. He very wel
l knew that he would be hanged and his name would be disgraced as Gandhi was con
sidered a saint. And again Godse could have ran away and escaped punishment. But
he did the reverse. He called a police officer and courted arrest. Before we pr
oceed it would be wise to understand the backdrop of the assassination.
The central government had taken a decision
Pakistan will not be given Rs 55 cro
res. On January 13 Gandhi started a fast unto death that Pakistan must be given
the money. On January 13, the central government changed its earlier decision an
d announced that Pakistan would be given the amount. On January 13, Nathuram dec
ided to assassinate Gandhi.
Nathuram Godse was a learned man, very sharp and intelligent editor of "Agrani"
(one of the most famous newspaper of that time with Nana Aapte). In his last edi
torial of "Agrani" which he changed overnight
he said "Gandhi must be stopped
at
any cost" and he justified why Gandhiji's assassination was not only inevitable
but also a delayed action, sth tht shud've happened LONG AGO.
In Nathuram's words - " I don't refute Gandhi's theory of non-violence. He may b
e a saint but he is not a politician. His theory of non-violence denies self-def
ence and self-interest. The non-violence that defines the fight for survival as
violence is a theory not of non-violence but of self-destruction.The division of
the nation was an unnecessary decision. What was the percentage of the Muslim p
opulation as compared to the population of the nation? There was no need for a s
eparate nation. Had it been a just demand, Maulana Azad would not have stayed ba
ck in India. But because Jinnah insisted and because Gandhi took his side, India
was divided, in spite of opposition from the nation, the Cabinet. An individual
is never greater than a nation.
In a democracy you cannot put forward your demands at knife-point. Jinnah did it
and Gandhi stabbed the nation with the same knife. He dissected the land and ga
ve a piece to Pakistan. We did picket that time but in vain. The Father of our N
ation went to perform his paternal duties for Pakistan! Gandhi blackmailed the c
abinet with his fast unto death. His body, his threats to die are causing the de
struction geographical as well as economical of the nation. Today, Muslims have
taken a part of the nation, tomorrow Sikhs may ask for Punjab. The religions are
again dividend into castes, they will demand sub-divisions of the divisions. Wh
at remains of the concept of one nation, national integration? Why did we fight
the British in unison for independence? Why not separately? Bhagat Singh did not
ask only for an independent Punjab or Subhash Chandra Bose for an independent B
engal?
I am going to assassinate him in the open, before the public, because I am going
to do it as my duty. If I do it surreptitiously, it becomes a crime in my own e

yes. I will not try to escape, I will surrender and naturally I will be hanged.
One assassination, one hanging. I don't want two executions for one assassinatio
n and I don't want your involvement, participation or company. (This was for Nan
a-Apte and Veer Savarkar as they were against ghandhi's policies too, Godse want
ed to assassinate gandhi all by himself and took promise from Nana Apte that he
will continue helping Veer Savarkar in rebuilding India as a strong free nation.
)
On January 30, I reached Birla Bhavan at 12 pm. Gandhi was sitting outside on a
cot enjoying the sunshine. Vallabhbhai Patel's granddaughter was sitting at his
feet. I had the revolver with me. I could have assassinated him easily then, but
I was convinced that his assassination was to be a punishment and a sentence ag
ainst him, and I would execute him. I wanted witnesses for the execution but the
re were none. I did not want to escape after the execution as there was not an i
ota of guilt in my mind. I wanted to surrender, but surrender to whom? There was
a good crowd to collect for the evening prayers. I decided on the evening of Ja
nuary 30 as the date for Gandhi's execution.
Gandhi climbed the steps and came forward. He had kept his hands on the shoulder
s of the two girls. I wanted just three seconds more. I moved two steps forward
and faced Gandhi. Now I wanted to take out the revolver and salute him for whate
ver sacrifice and service he had made for the nation. One of the two girls was d
angerously close to Gandhi and I was afraid that she might be injured in the cou
rse of firing. As a precautionary measure I went one more step ahead, bowed befo
re him and gently pushed the girl away from the firing line. The next moment I f
ired at Gandhi. Gandhi was very weak, there was a feeble sound like 'aah' (There
it's just made up stu
are proof that Gandhi did NOT say "Hey Raam" at that time
ff ) from him and he fell down.
After the firing I raised my hand holding the revolver and shouted, 'Police, pol
ice'. For 30 seconds nobody came forward and I scanned the crowd. I saw a police
officer. I signalled to him to come forward and arrest me. He came and caught m
y wrist, then a second man came and touched the revolver I let it go "