Gandhi’s death
Gandhi woke up at 3:30 am on Friday, January 30, 1948. He had just finished a six-day fast. He was scheduled to lead an outdoor prayer meeting for peace. He said his morning prayers and then spent the day writing letters and meeting with an official from the new government of India. He was accompanied to the prayer meeting by his great-nieces, Abha and Manu, before a crowd of about five hundred people who had gathered.
When he arrived, people led the way and many bowed. He came on stage and offered a traditional Hindu greeting, clasping his hands and stretching them up.
Without warning, a young man ran out of the crowd. Manu tried to stop him, but he threw her aside. He pulled out a pistol and fired three shots. Within minutes, Gandhi was dead. The murderer was Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist who believed that it was wrong for Gandhi to associate with Muslims.
Gandhi’s last words were “He Ram, He Ram” (“Oh God, oh God”). He died with the name of God on his lips.
Gandhi’s life and death set people all over the world on fire. His lessons in nonviolence, passive resistance, and civil disobedience would live far beyond his lifetime. He would influence the American civil rights movement and its leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. used Gandhi’s lessons to lead his own people to independence. Nonviolence techniques require devotion to the idea, which is not easy. You must surpass yourself to spread peace in the world.
