Mahatma Gandhi Death Anniversary 2026: Who threw the bomb in the prayer meeting before the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi?

Every year on 30 January, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is celebrated as Martyr’s Day.

He had failed to stop partition. The orgy of violence continued. There was an endless stream of caravans of refugees. There was a scene of screaming and helplessness everywhere. But Gandhi still did not lose courage. They were hoping that people would understand that nothing would be achieved through anger and hatred. He was confident of his moral strength. Till now Gandhi had been using the weapon of fasting to fight the foreign rule, this time he was using it among his own people. Not to bow down to anyone but to bridge the distance of hearts.

This was the last fast of his life between 13-18 January 1947. Now he had his own people in the government. They too were uncomfortable with this step of Gandhi. Still they bowed before him. But there were also people who were so enraged by Gandhi’s action that one of them took the saint’s life. A look at that unfortunate incident on Martyrs’ Day.

Question to Gandhi, why don’t you go to Pakistan?

On the occasion of independence on August 15, 1947, Gandhi kept himself away from Delhi. In those days he was busy pacifying the people in Calcutta. Reached Delhi on 7 September 1947 after a gap of three weeks. Next he had to go to Punjab. But Delhi was restless. The process of arrival of refugees from Punjab was continuing. People were full of despair and anger. The local Hindu and Sikh population was involved in this sorrow. The tone of retaliation was loud.

The Muslims here were finding themselves unsafe. Thousands of Muslims had taken shelter in the old fort and Humayun’s tomb. Gandhi wanted to see them safe in their homes. He kept roaming in hospitals and refugee camps to provide solace. His appeal was for peace and restraint instead of forgetting the past and anger. Everywhere he was being asked questions about the atrocities on Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. It was being asked why not go there? Gandhi

Explaining this, he used to say, “I will go there and appeal to the Muslims to stop the violence. But I will not be successful in this until the violence against the Muslims of Delhi does not stop.”

Hearts should be found truly, not under pressure.

Gandhi’s appeals for peace were ineffective. The violence was not stopping. Then Gandhi decided to use his familiar last weapon, hunger strike. He had to see the effect of his moral strength on his government and his own people. The fast started on 13 January 1948. Said that I will not break the fast until I feel that the hearts of all the communities have reconciled and this understanding has arisen not due to external pressure but from spiritual understanding and a sense of responsibility.

His demand was that the original form of the broken religious places in Old Delhi should be restored. The Muslim community should be given complete security. Illegal occupation of Muslim homes and properties by non-Muslims should be removed. No community should resort to violence. But the most talked about issue regarding this fast was the payment of Rs 55 crore to Pakistan as per the conditions set by the Government of India.

Those fifty-five crores!

During the partition of the country, it was not just land that was distributed. Properties were also divided. India’s share was 82.5 percent and Pakistan’s share was 17.5 percent. The total amount deposited in the Reserve Bank was Rs 475 crore. Pakistan’s share was Rs 75 crore. He had got twenty crores. Meanwhile, the Pakistani army attacked Kashmir by pushing the tribals forward. Nehru-Patel stopped the payment of the remaining amount of Rs 55 crore.

India said that Pakistan would use this money to purchase weapons, which would be used against India. Another dispute was the payment for the property left by Hindu-Sikhs in Pakistan. It was worth about five hundred crores. The value of the property of the Muslims who left India was estimated to be around Rs 100 crore. India’s demand was that Pakistan should pay the remaining amount by paying Rs 100 crore.

Government under pressure from hunger strike

Mahatma Gandhi’s fast did not just create a stir among the public. There was already unrest in the country. There was huge tension in Delhi also. The government was struggling to prevent violence and maintain order. Gandhi’s fast increased the pressure on him. First there were appeals to him not to fast. Still he did not agree and started the fast, then efforts were made to persuade him to break it. Peace committee was formed under the leadership of Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Along with Congress, representatives of many organizations and a large number of citizens met Mahatma Gandhi. Gave him assurance of maintaining peace in Delhi. On January 15, the third day of the fast, the Indian government announced payment of dues to Pakistan. Gandhi broke his fast on 18 January. Gandhi was asking the Hindus and Sikhs through the fast that if there is no peace here, then who will listen to me in Pakistan?

On the other hand, they were asking Pakistan that if the violence there does not stop, then how long will it be able to stop the anger of the people of India? But questions related to peace and tranquility were sidelined. The news of payment of Rs 55 crore to Pakistan under pressure of fast enraged the section which complained that Gandhi was only concerned about Muslims.

Took life in the name of Muslim religion

The fast further weakened Gandhi’s already weak body. His life was saved by breaking his fast but those who called him a Muslim follower had taken a terrible decision. The decision was to eliminate the priest of non-violence through violence. The first attack on him took place on 20 January. Madan Lal Pahwa threw a bomb in his prayer meeting. Luckily it went away. There was no damage.

It was sad that such a serious incident was also taken lightly. There was no effect on Gandhi. The routine remained the same. But the second attack on January 30 took his life. While going to the prayer meeting, Nathu Ram Godse shot Bapu and brutally killed him. There was darkness of mourning in the country. All the countries of the world were shocked by this news. Killer Godse surrendered instead of running away. He freely confessed to the crime in the court. Tell the reason for the murder. In his long statement of ninety pages, Mahatma Gandhi was accused of Muslim bias.

Kept struggling to prove the two nation theory wrong

Till the last moment, Gandhi kept struggling to prove the two nation theory wrong. He thought that by giving complete security to Muslims in India, Jinnah and Pakistan could be proven wrong. Rajmohan Gandhi writes in his book Patel: A Life that post-independence India had stood up as a state, but was scattered as a society. Gandhi’s final struggle against this disintegration began.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad wrote in India Wins Freedom, “We became independent, but we forgot that the first responsibility of independence is the protection of minorities. In Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, Ram Chandra Grih writes that Gandhi was seeing that the government and administration were trying to stop violence but the hatred was not going away from the minds of the society. His fast was not against the state, but to shake the soul of the society. He had also said, “This fast was not against any government. Do not bend. This is to melt those hearts which have become stones. It was the misfortune of the country and humanity that Gandhi was snatched away from us before peace could return.

Also read: What is the story of the Birla House where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated?