Gandhi assassinated - Jan 30, 1948 - HISTORY.com Gandhi assassinated Publisher A+E Networks Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement, is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic. Born the son of an Indian official in 1869, Gandhi’s Vaishnava mother was deeply religious and early on exposed her son to Jainism, a morally rigorous Indian religion that advocated nonviolence. Gandhi was an unremarkable student but in 1888 was given an opportunity to study law in England. In 1891, he returned to India, but failing to find regular legal work he accepted in 1893 a one-year contract in South Africa. Settling in Natal, he was subjected to racism and South African laws that restricted the rights of Indian laborers. Gandhi later recalled one such incident, in which he was removed from a first-class railway compartment and thrown off a train, as his moment of truth. From thereon, he decided to fight injustice and defend his rights as an Indian and a man.

When his contract expired, he spontaneously decided to remain in South Africa and launched a campaign against legislation that would deprive Indians of the right to vote. He formed the Natal Indian Congress and drew international attention to the plight of Indians in South Africa. In 1906, the Transvaal government sought to further restrict the rights of Indians, and Gandhi organized his first campaign of satyagraha, or mass civil disobedience. After seven years of protest, he negotiated a compromise agreement with the South African government. In 1914, Gandhi returned to India and lived a life of abstinence and spirituality on the periphery of Indian politics. He supported Britain in the First World War but in 1919 launched a new satyagraha in protest of Britain’s mandatory military draft of Indians. Hundreds of thousands answered his call to protest, and by 1920 he was leader of the Indian movement for independence. He reorganized the Indian National Congress as a political force and launched a massive boycott of British goods, services, and institutions in India. Then, in 1922, he abruptly called off the satyagraha when violence erupted.

One month later, he was arrested by the British authorities for sedition, found guilty, and imprisoned. After his release in 1924, he led an extended fast in protest of Hindu-Muslim violence. In 1928, he returned to national politics when he demanded dominion status for India and in 1930 launched a mass protest against the British salt tax, which hurt India’s poor. In his most famous campaign of civil disobedience, Gandhi and his followers marched to the Arabian Sea, where they made their own salt by evaporating sea water. The march, which resulted in the arrest of Gandhi and 60,000 others, earned new international respect and support for the leader and his movement. In 1931, Gandhi was released to attend the Round Table Conference on India in London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The meeting was a great disappointment, and after his return to India he was again imprisoned. While in jail, he led another fast in protest of the British government’s treatment of the “untouchables”–the impoverished and degraded Indians who occupied the lowest tiers of the caste system.

In 1934, he left the Indian Congress Party to work for the economic development of India’s many poor. His protege, Jawaharlal Nehru, was named leader of the party in his place. With the outbreak of World War II, Gandhi returned to politics and called for Indian cooperation with the British war effort in exchange for independence. Britain refused and sought to divide India by supporting conservative Hindu and Muslim groups. In response, Gandhi launched the “Quit India” movement it 1942, which called for a total British withdrawal. Gandhi and other nationalist leaders were imprisoned until 1944. In 1945, a new government came to power in Britain, and negotiations for India’s independence began. Gandhi sought a unified India, but the Muslim League, which had grown in influence during the war, disagreed. After protracted talks, Britain agreed to create the two new independent states of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947. Gandhi was greatly distressed by the partition, and bloody violence soon broke out between Hindus and Muslims in India. In an effort to end India’s religious strife, he resorted to fasts and visits to the troubled areas.

He was on one such vigil in New Delhi when Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi’s tolerance for the Muslims, fatally shot him. Known as Mahatma, or “the great soul,” during his lifetime, Gandhi’s persuasive methods of civil disobedience influenced leaders of civil rights movements around the world, especially Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States. Related Videos January 30 1948 - Mahatma Gandhi is Assassinated in New Delhi - On this day in History January 30 1948 - Mahatma Gandhi is Assassinated in New Delhi *Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Mahatma Gandhi, walking through the garden of Birla House in New Delhi with his arms around two of his granddaughters, felt as if the evening of January 30, 1948 would be just like most others. On his way to the evening prayer meeting, however, a young man emerged from the adoring crowd and shot him three times, assassinating one of the most beloved figures the world has ever known. From a very early age, Gandhi’s mother impressed the values of Jainism upon him.

Built upon personal responsibility for salvation and a commitment to non-violence, it is easy to see how the young boy could mature into the influential figure Gandhi became. Traveling to England to further his education -- the request of his father, an administrator in the family’s hometown of Porbandar -- he received a law degree in 1891. Unable to find work in India, Gandhi moved to South Africa in 1893. As a victim to discrimination perpetrated by government officials and common citizens, his ideas for social activism and justice crystallized quickly. In a bid to thwart provisions disfranchising Indians living in South Africa, he formed the Natal Indian Congress, creating a buzz worldwide about the issues facing his people. With fresh legislation presented in 1906 to undercut Indians even further, Gandhi organized his first satyagraha, the form of effective, peaceful civil disobedience he would come to be known for. Seven years later, he would help to negotiate a compromise with South African government. When he finally returned to India in 1914, Gandhi seemed content to remain on the fringes of Indian politics. The forced service of Indians in the British military during World War I, however, changed his mind.

Bringing the weight of another satyagraha decrying the policy to bear, Gandhi helped turn the Indian National Congress (INC) into a major organization for elevating society and, eventually, pushing for self-government in 1928. In 1930, Gandhi managed to garner even more international attention, launching a protest against the Salt Tax with some 60,000 of his followers. Arrested for attempting to evaporate sea water to acquire the salt within it after the 250-mile Dandi Salt March, he would be rewarded for his efforts with the first months of a combined six years in prison during his lifetime. Energized, Gandhi moved increasingly moved away from politics to give voice to those on the margins of Indian society -- “untouchables” from lower castes and women, in particular. His disciples, Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, took the baton in the fight for independence. When he returned to politics in 1936 after a two-year hiatus, the importance Gandhi placed on non-violent means to the desired ends of sovereignty fell on increasingly deaf ears in the INC.

As nations all over the planet descended into World War II, he offered support to the British cause in defeating Nazi Germany, though he hoped India’s role would be limited to that of a moral ally instead of a source for new recruits. Seeing his country mined for soldiers once again, his calls for full independence became louder and louder. Frustrated with colonial administrators, which showed no sign of guaranteeing self-government in exchange for Indian military action, Gandhi made his most famous speech at Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai on August 8, 1942. Launching the Quit India movement against colonial rule, he and hundreds of others were imprisoned the following day for inciting crowds against British officials. During the two years he spent in jail, Gandhi organized numerous hunger strikes to protest policies he believed perpetuated the oppression of the Indian people. Once out of prison, the now-widowed Gandhi stepped into a vastly different political landscape. Other groups, such as the Muslim League, gained wider influence while much of the INC leadership (and nearly 100,000 others) languished in prison.

As the British moved toward relinquishing colonial responsibility, Gandhi argued for maintaining a single nation tolerant of all religions, as opposed to the partitioned arrangement of India and Pakistan. With hundreds of thousands killed during late 1947 in battles between religious groups attempting to transfer from one side of the Radcliffe Line to the other, Gandhi’s belief in the possibility of true unity vanished. Five months later, Gandhi walked through the courtyard at the home of the wealthy Birla family shortly after 5pm. As was customary, the gathered admirers parted to provide him a pathway into the house and he pressed his hands together as a sign of reverence for those kind enough to shower him with such affection. Nathuram Godse, a member of the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, stepped into the gap and fired a small pistol at Gandhi from hardly more than an arm’s length away. Crumpling over with bullet wounds to the chest and abdomen, the influential leader was rushed inside as people in the courtyard seized and beat the assassin. Gandhi survived four previous attempts on his life but the proximity of this attacker left him little chance with the fifth. He was dead 25 minutes later.

As word spread throughout the nation, riots erupted in Mumbai resulting in 15 deaths and 54 injuries. Nehru, now Prime Minister of the fledgling country, announced plans for the funeral over national radio, informing the world “The light has gone out of our lives.” Thousands gathered outside Birla House that night, patiently standing in line for a glimpse of Gandhi’s body laying on a cot on a second-floor balcony. The following day, a funeral procession began at 11:30 in the morning, winding along the major streets of New Delhi and Delhi to reach the banks of the sacred Jumna River. Millions packed the sidewalks along the way, awaiting the moment when the great leader’s body would be placed on ceremonial pyres awaiting the traditional cremation. The list of future leaders impacted by Gandhi’s legacy is innumerable. Far beyond the reaches of India -- perhaps most famously with the Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the United States and Nelson Mandela in South Africa -- the adored teacher’s methods have been adopted to effect grand social change over and over again.

Also On This Day: 1649 - King Charles I of England is executed for high treason after defeat in the Second Civil War 1790 - Testing of the world’s first lifeboat occurs on the River Tyne in northern England 1820 - Edward Bransfield claims the discovery of Antarctica after laying eyes on Trinity Peninsula 1969 - The Beatles perform in public for the last time, on the roof of Apple Records in London 1982 - The world’s first PC virus, a 400-line code disguised as an Apple program, is written by Richard Skrenta You may also like : The Assassination of Gandhi, 1948 The Assassination of Gandhi, 1948 Printer Friendly Version >>> "Just an old man in a loincloth in distant India: Yet when he died, humanity wept." This was the observation of a newspaper correspondent at the death of Mahatma Gandhi. The tragedy occurred in New Delhi as the gaunt old man walked to a prayer-meeting and was engulfed by one of history's great ironies - a life-long pacifist and promoter of non-violence struck down by an assassin's bullet.

Gandhi's violent death came just months after the realization of his long sought-after goal - the independence of India from Great Britain. It was a bittersweet victory for Gandhi because along with India's independence came the partitioning of the sub-continent into two separate states - Muslim-based Pakistan and Hindu-based India - an action he thoroughly opposed. Gandhi did not take part in the celebration of India's independence. Death of the Mahatma Vincent Sheean was an American reporter and author who had covered trouble spots around the world in the years prior to and during World War II. In 1947, Sheean traveled to India and became a disciple of Gandhi in an attempt to find meaning in the violent and disruptive events he had witnessed during his years of reporting. We join his account as he rushes to join a prayer-meeting with Gandhi in the heart of New Delhi in the early evening hours of January 30, 1948: "I got a taxi and went out to Birla House in time for the prayer-meeting. This time I was alone. I stationed my taxi under a tree opposite the gate of Birla House and walked down the drive to the prayer-ground.

It was not yet five o'clock and people were still streaming in on foot, in cars and with tongas. As I came on to the prayer-ground at the end of the garden I ran into Bob Stimson, the Delhi correspondent of the B.B.C. We fell into talk and I told him about the journey to Amritsar and what had taken place there. It was unusual to see any representatives of the press at the prayer-meeting; Bob explained that he had submitted some questions to the Mahatma for the B.B.C. and thought he might as well stay for the prayers since he was on the premises. He looked at his watch and said: 'Well, this is strange. Gandhi's late. He's practically never late.' ADVERTISMENT We both looked at our watches again. It was 5:12 by my watch when Bob said: 'There he is.' We stood near the corner of the wall, on the side of the garden where he was coming, and watched the evening light fall on his shining dark-brown head. He did not walk under the arbor this evening but across the grass, in the open lawn on the other side of the flower-beds.

(There was the arbored walk, and a strip of lawn, and a long strip of flower-bed, and then the open lawn.) It was one of those shining Delhi evenings, not at all warm but alight with the promise of spring. I felt well and happy and grateful to be here. Bob and I stood idly talking, I do not remember about what, and watching the Mahatma advance toward us over the grass, leaning lightly on two of 'the girls,' with two or three other members of his 'family' (family or followers) behind them. I read afterward that he had sandals on his feet but I did not see them. To me it looked as if he walked barefoot on the grass. It was not a warm evening and he was wrapped in homespun shawls. He passed by us on the other side and turned to ascend the four or five brick steps which led to the terrace or prayer-ground. Here, as usual, there was a clump of people, some of whom were standing and some of whom had gone on their knees or bent low before him.

Bob and I turned to watch - we were perhaps ten feet away from the steps-but the clump of people cut off our view of the Mahatma now; he was so small. Then I heard four small, dull, dark explosions. 'What's that?' I said to Bob in sudden horror. 'I don't know,' he said. I remember that he grew pale in an instant. 'Not the Mahatma!' I said, and then I knew. Inside my own head there occurred a wavelike disturbance which I can only compare to a storm at sea - wind and wave surging tremendously back and forth. I remember all this distinctly; I do not believe that I lost consciousness even for a moment, although there may have been an instant or two of half-consciousness. I recoiled upon the brick wall and leaned against it, bent almost in two. I felt the consciousness of the Mahatma leave me then-I know of no other way of expressing this: he left me. ...The storm inside my head continued for some little time-minutes, perhaps; I have no way of reckoning.

...lt was during this time, apparently, that many things happened: a whole external series of events took place in my immediate neighborhood - a few yards away - and I was unaware of them. A doctor was found; the police took charge; the body of the Mahatma was, carried away; the crowd melted, perhaps urged to do so by the police. I saw none of this. The last I saw of the Mahatma he was advancing over the grass in the evening light, approaching the steps. When I finally took my fingers out of my mouth and stood up, dry-eyed, there were police and soldiers and not many people, and there was Bob Stimson. He was rather breathless; he had gone somewhere to telephone to the B.B.C. He came with me down the steps to the lawn, where we walked up and down beside the flower-bed for a while. The room with the glass doors and windows, by the rose garden at the end of the arbor, had a crowd of people around it. Many were weeping. The police were endeavoring to make them leave. Bob could not tell me anything except that the Mahatma had been taken inside that room.

On the following day he told me that he had seen him carried away and that the khadi which he wore was heavily stained with blood." References: Vincent Sheean's account appears in: Sheean, Vincent, Lead, Kindly Light (1949); Ashe, Geoffrey, Gandhi (1968). How To Cite This Article: "The Assassination of Gandhi, 1948," EyeWitness to History, (2005). "Mahatma" is an honorary title and term of reverence rooted in the Sanskrit term for "great souled." It was conferred on Gandhi in 1915 by the Asian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse, was described as a nationalist and right-wing Hindu who blamed Gandhi for the partitioning of India. He was executed in November 1949. The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi - YouTube The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented.

This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Nov 17, 2008 On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was shot and killed while having his nightly public walk on the grounds of the Birla Bhavan (Birla House) in New Delhi. The assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a Hindu radical with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan. Godse and his co-conspirator Narayan Apte were later tried and convicted; they were executed on 15 November 1949. Gandhi's memorial (or Samādhi) at Rāj Ghāt, New Delhi, bears the epigraph "Hē Ram", which may be translated as "Oh God". These are widely believed to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement has been disputed.

Category Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi - Jan 30, 1948 - HISTORY.com Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi Share this: Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi Author Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi URL Publisher A+E Networks Mohandas Gandhi , the world’s chief advocate of non-violence, is assassinated in New Delhi by a terrorist sponsored by a right-wing Hindu militia group. The murder came only 10 days after a failed attempt on Gandhi’s life. Thirty-nine-year-old Nathuram Godse shot the great Indian leader as he made his way through a small crowd to lead a prayer session. The father of Indian independence had angered Hindu extremists by his efforts to bring peace in the wake of the British withdrawal from India. Muslims and Hindus had been fighting a civil war since the decision to the Muslim-dominated westernregion of Indiahad become separated asPakistan. Religious-inspired riots were breaking out all over India when Gandhi went on a hunger strike in September 1947. The fast almost killed Gandhi but it successfully suspended the fighting. However, he was forced to fast again in January in order to finally bring the sides together for a peace pact. Hindu extremists saw this as selling out the nation and plotted Gandhi’s death.

On January 20, the group detonated explosives inside the wall of a New Delhi house where Gandhi was, but stopped short of throwing a grenade at Gandhi because they feared that bystanders would be killed. Gandhi was instrumental in driving the British out of India. His non-violent protests and boycotts crippled England’s ability to control the populace and brought unwanted attention to one of the world’slast major bastions of colonialism. He was a leader in the Indian National Congress, and led the revolution for independence. His ideas and tactics were later borrowed by Martin Luther King, Jr., who used them successfully in the 1960s civil rights protests. The assassin Godse tried to kill himself after the attack, but was grabbed before he had the chance.Four accomplices were arrested over the next several days. Godse showed no remorse for his crime. Along with Narayan Apte, Godse was hanged to death on November 15, 1949, against the wishes of Gandhi’s sons, who argued that the execution stood against everything Gandhi believed in.

Related Videos ASSASSINATION IN INDIA - RAJIV GANDHI IS ASSASSINATED IN BOMBING AT CAMPAIGN STOP - INDIA PUTS OFF REST OF VOTING - NYTimes.com Autos ASSASSINATION IN INDIA ASSASSINATION IN INDIA; RAJIV GANDHI IS ASSASSINATED IN BOMBING AT CAMPAIGN STOP; INDIA PUTS OFF REST OF VOTING By BARBARA CROSSETTE, Published: May 22, 1991 MADRAS, India, Wednesday, May 22— Rajiv Gandhi, a former Prime Minister hoping to return to power in elections this week, was assassinated in a powerful explosion as he walked toward an election rally platform on Tuesday night in a small town southwest of Madras. No organization or individual has yet taken responsibility for the attack. Mr. Gandhi, 46 years old, became the second political martyr in a family dynasty that led India for three generations. His mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was shot to death in October 1984 by Sikh bodyguards angry at her crackdown on the independence movement in Punjab. As a result of Mr.

Gandhi's assassination, India's chief election commissioner, T. N. Seshan, early this morning postponed the remaining two phases of the national parliamentary elections until next month. He acted after consulting the President and the acting Prime Minister. New Dates for Elections The first phase took place on Monday, but voting for the remaining 60 percent of the 537 seats at stake will be on June 12 and 15 instead of Thursday and Sunday, the United News of India reported. India's military and paramilitary forces were put on "red alert" as gangs took to the streets of the capital, New Delhi, and other cities, looking for scapegoats. [ Page A11. ] In a country already in political ferment, with Mr. Gandhi's Congress Party no longer sure of its dominance and its constituencies, the assassination has vastly compounded the uncertainties, and the initial reaction of many Indians was fear for the country's future. Speculation on Tamils There was considerable speculation Tuesday night that since the attack happened in the state of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Gandhi's death might have been caused by Tamil militants seeking independence for the regions of the neighboring island nation of Sri Lanka inhabited by their ethnic group.

They have often used explosives in terrorist acts: three months ago, Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka assassinated that country's Defense Minister, Ranjan Wijeratne, with a powerful explosion. There were also questions raised about Sikh militants who had recently put out a "hit list" of politicians from the Congress Party, but Mr. Gandhi was not known to be on that list. Hindu fundamentalists were also blamed by some, and in New Delhi crowds chanted slogans blaming the C.I.A. Blast Kills 14 Others At least 14 other people, including a senior police officer, died in the blast, which occurred about 10:20 P.M. in the town of Sriperumbudur, about 25 miles from here. Maradadam Chandrashekhar, the parliamentary candidate from the town who was walking toward the platform with Mr. Gandhi, survived the blast and was reported by the United News of India agency to be in a hospital. It is not clear whether a bomb was thrown at Mr. Gandhi or whether he was handed flowers that contained explosives. He had been receiving bouquets and garlands all evening.

This reporter, who was about 10 yards behind Mr. Gandhi, saw only the flash of the blast and the circle of bodies that fanned out from its epicenter. Mr. Gandhi's driver said the former Prime Minister's body appeared to have been shattered at the midsection, leaving only his feet and part of his head intact. But The Associated Press circulated a photo of a body that it said local photographers had identified as that of Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Gandhi's remains were met at the airport in New Delhi by President Ramaswamy Venkataraman and acting Prime Minister Chandra Shekar and taken to Peen Murti House, which was an early prime minister's residence and is now a museum. A week of mourning was declared. Some minor violence was reported today in Bombay, Calcutta and Andhra Pradesh state. Mr. Gandhi had been locked in a three-way election battle, facing opposition from the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Lal Kishan Advani, and from the National Front alliance of former Prime Minister V. P. Singh, who succeeded Mr. Gandhi in late 1989.

Most political analysts said Rajiv Gandhi's prospects in the current elections had been somewhat muddled. He had not been given much chance to gain a clear-cut, sweeping victory like the one he won after his mother was killed. On the other hand, many analysts were predicting that his Congress Party was likely to take the largest number of seats in Parliament, though not enough to form a government without alliances with other parties. The assassination comes at a time of tremendous tension in India, when all traditional political equations have been upset and the economy is on a downward slide. There are also unparalleled tensions between high- and low-caste Hindus, as people at the bottom of one of the most rigid and divisive social systems in the world struggle to assert themselves. Add to this the separatists and radical leftists active in half a dozen states -- and the large arsenals of weapons in circulation -- and the mix is extremely dangerous. Grandson of First Prime Minister Mr. Gandhi, the grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, is survived by his Italian-born wife, Sonia, who flew to Madras on Tuesday night to take his remains back to New Delhi, and two children: a son, Rahul, and a daughter, Priyanka.

Mr. Gandhi's brother, Sanjay, who was then political heir apparent to Indira Gandhi, was killed in an airplane crash in 1980. Rajiv Gandhi was not related to Mohandas K. Gandhi, the leader of India's independence movement, who was killed by an assassin in 1948. 1 The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, 1948 CURRENT NEWS / NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS > The Assassination of Gandhi, 1948 The Assassination of Gandhi, 1948 "Just an old man in a loincloth in distant India: Yet when he died, humanity wept." This was the observation of a newspaper correspondent at the death of Mahatma Gandhi. The tragedy occurred in New Delhi as the gaunt old man walked to a prayer-meeting and was engulfed by one of history's great ironies - a life-long pacifist and promoter of non-violence struck down by an assassin's bullet. Gandhi's violent death came just months after the realization of his long sought-after goal - the independence of India from Great Britain.

It was a bittersweet victory for Gandhi because along with India's independence came the partitioning of the sub-continent into two separate states - Muslim-based Pakistan and Hindu-based India - an action he thoroughly opposed. Gandhi did not take part in the celebration of India's independence. Death of the Mahatma Vincent Sheean was an American reporter and author who had covered trouble spots around the world in the years prior to and during World War II. In 1947, Sheean traveled to India and became a disciple of Gandhi in an attempt to find meaning in the violent and disruptive events he had witnessed during his years of reporting. We join his account as he rushes to join a prayer-meeting with Gandhi in the heart of New Delhi in the early evening hours of January 30, 1948: "I got a taxi and went out to Birla House in time for the prayer-meeting. This time I was alone. I stationed my taxi under a tree opposite the gate of Birla House and walked down the drive to the prayer-ground. It was not yet five o'clock and people were still streaming in on foot, in cars and with tongas.

As I came on to the prayer-ground at the end of the garden I ran into Bob Stimson, the Delhi correspondent of the B.B.C. We fell into talk and I told him about the journey to Amritsar and what had taken place there. It was unusual to see any representatives of the press at the prayer-meeting; Bob explained that he had submitted some questions to the Mahatma for the B.B.C. and thought he might as well stay for the prayers since he was on the premises. He looked at his watch and said: 'Well, this is strange. Gandhi's late. He's practically never late.' We both looked at our watches again. It was 5:12 by my watch when Bob said: 'There he is.' We stood near the corner of the wall, on the side of the garden where he was coming, and watched the evening light fall on his shining dark-brown head. He did not walk under the arbor this evening but across the grass, in the open lawn on the other side of the flower-beds.

(There was the arbored walk, and a strip of lawn, and a long strip of flower-bed, and then the open lawn.) It was one of those shining Delhi evenings, not at all warm but alights with the promise of spring. I felt well and happy and grateful to be here. Bob and I stood idly talking, I do not remember about what, and watching the Mahatma advance toward us over the grass, leaning lightly on two of 'the girls,' with two or three other members of his 'family' (family or followers) behind them. I read afterward that he had sandals on his feet but I did not see them. To me it looked as if he walked barefoot on the grass. It was not a warm evening and he was wrapped in homespun shawls. He passed by us on the other side and turned to ascend the four or five brick steps which led to the terrace or prayer-ground. Here, as usual, there was a clump of people, some of whom were standing and some of whom had gone on their knees or bent low before him.

Bob and I turned to watch - we were perhaps ten feet away from the steps-but the clump of people cut off our view of the Mahatma now; he was so small. Then I heard four small, dull, dark explosions. 'What's that?' I said to Bob in sudden horror. 'I don't know,' he said. I remember that he grew pale in an instant. 'Not the Mahatma!' I said, and then I knew. Inside my own head there occurred a wavelike disturbance which I can only compare to a storm at sea - wind and wave surging tremendously back and forth. I remember all this distinctly; I do not believe that I lost consciousness even for a moment, although there may have been an instant or two of half-consciousness. I recoiled upon the brick wall and leaned against it, bent almost in two. I felt the consciousness of the Mahatma leave me then-I know of no other way of expressing this: he left me. ...The storm inside my head continued for some little time-minutes, perhaps; I have no way of reckoning.

...lt was during this time, apparently, that many things happened: a whole external series of events took place in my immediate neighborhood - a few yards away - and I was unaware of them. A doctor was found; the police took charge; the body of the Mahatma was, carried away; the crowd melted, perhaps urged to do so by the police. I saw none of this. The last I saw of the Mahatma he was advancing over the grass in the evening light, approaching the steps. When I finally took my fingers out of my mouth and stood up, dry-eyed, there were police and soldiers and not many people, and there was Bob Stimson. He was rather breathless; he had gone somewhere to telephone to the B.B.C. He came with me down the steps to the lawn, where we walked up and down beside the flower-bed for a while. The room with the glass doors and windows, by the rose garden at the end of the arbor, had a crowd of people around it. Many were weeping. The police were endeavoring to make them leave. Bob could not tell me anything except that the Mahatma had been taken inside that room.

On the following day he told me that he had seen him carried away and that the khadi which he wore was heavily stained with blood." References: What Happened in 1948 including Pop Culture, Significant Events, Key Technology and Inventions How Much things cost in 1948 Yearly Inflation U.S.A.

7.74% Average Cost of new house $7,700.00 Average wages per year $2,950.00 Cost of a gallon of Gas 16 cents Average Cost of a new car $1,250.00 Loaf of Bread 14 cents LB of Hamburger Meat 45 cents Science and Mechanics Magazine 20 cents Movie Ticket 60 Cents Cauliflower 15 cents per head Chewing Gum 12 cents for 3 Coffee 85 cents for 2 pound bag Onions 49 cents 10 pounds Pork and Beans 25 cents for 2 cans Pork Roast 39 Cents per pound Example of houses for sale this year Warren, Pennsylvania 5 room bungalow on 1 acre with furnace electricity water gas and double garage $7,000 Lincoln, Nebraska -- New Homes 2 bedrooms forced air ideal location $7,000 Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling Average House Price 1,751 Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is murdered on 26th January by a Hindu extremist.

More Information for the Gandhi's Assassination Indian independence activist Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated at the age of 78 during January of 1948. The assassination took place outside of the Birla House in New Delhi where Gandhi was set to attend a prayer meeting. The assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a Hindu nationalist who had disagreed with Gandhi's acceptance of Muslims and his non-violent position in the wake of religious tensions created by the division of Pakistan and India. Godse was put on trial and sentenced to death despite objections from Gandhi's family and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, stating that an execution would dishonor the memory of Gandhi who had opposed the death penalty. Israel is declared as an independent state Israel is declared as an independent state. More Information for the creation of Israel. During May of 1948 the independent Jewish state of Israel was created in Palestine by the United Nations. The creation of Israel marked the first time in 2,000 years that an independent Jewish state had existed. David Ben-Gurion became the newly formed country's first Prime Minister.

Immediately after the creation of Israel the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 began when forces from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan invaded the country. The surrounding Arab nations had disagreed with the formation of Israel from the start as they believed the land had been distributed unfairly and it had displaced Arab Palestinians. Fighting continued until 1949 when Israel was able to form several armistice agreements with the neighboring Arab states. Polaroid Land Camera The First Polaroid Camera is goes on sale at the Boston Jordan Marsh department store for $89.75 More Information and Timeline for Polaroid Land Camera 1. 1932 Edwin H. Land establishes Land-Wheelwright Laboratories in Boston with his former Harvard physics professor, George Wheelwright III. They continue to research and to produce synthetic polarizers. 2. 1939 Polaroid produces glasses, ski goggles, 3D glasses, and dark-adapter goggles for the Army and Navy. 3. 1948 November 26 The first Land camera, the Model 95, is sold in Boston at Jordan Marsh department store for $89.75.

This model is the prototype for all Polaroid Land cameras produced for the next 15 years. 4. The Polaroid Camera cost nearly 15 times more than the popular Kodak Brownie sold at the time ( $5.50 ) plus the film cost substantially more 5. 1949 The Polaroid Land Model 95 camera Photographic sales exceed $5 million in the first year Western European Treaty is signed. More Information for the Treaty of Brussels/Western European Treaty. The Treaty of Brussels, also known as the Western European Treaty, was signed by five European Nations during March of 1948. The signatories included Belgium, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, France, and the Netherlands. The treaty established military, social, and cultural cooperation between the five nations in an attempt to bolster defense and solidify their alliance for Western Europe against the growing threat of Communism in Eastern Europe. The treaty was important in the development of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Western European Union. National Health Service NHS Created British National Health Service Act creates the NHS in July. More Information for the NHS. The United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) was launched during July of 1948.

Created by the National Health Service Act of 1946 , the NHS was envisioned as an ambitious social program that would bring free healthcare to the citizens of the United Kingdom. Funded entirely by taxation, the NHS provided fair and decent healthcare to all that would be free at the point of service. The original law only created the NHS in England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland having to create their own separate services. Sylvia Beckingham, a thirteen year old with a liver condition, became the first patient to be treated under the new NHS in 1948. Czechoslovakia becomes Communist after coup. More Information for Czechoslovakia becomes Communist During February of 1948 Communist rule was established in Czechoslovakia after a nearly bloodless coup took place. President Eduard Benes announced that the nation would transition to a Communist system after being pressured by the newly influential Czechoslovakian Communist Party. Western powers viewed the coup as an expansion of power by the Soviet Union and feared the ease at which the Soviet Union was able to gain influence in parts of Eastern and Southern Europe. Despite the country's previously democratic traditions, Czechoslovakia remained Communist until the Velvet Revolution in 1989 .

Mary Leakey discovers the fossilized skull of Proconsul Africanus at Rusinga Island. More Information for Mary Leakey. Archaeologist Mary Douglas Leakey made her very first important fossil discovery in October of 1948. While digging on Rusinga Island in Kenya with her husband Louis Leakey, Mary discovered the jaws and skull of a possible human ancestor, Proconsul Africanus. The fossil was determined to be between 18 and 25 million years old and was more closely related to modern monkeys and apes than to modern humans. World -- U.N. Declaration of Human Rights The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th of 1948 in Paris. The document, while not legally binding, laid the foundation of basic human rights upon which subsequent treaties and declarations were based. The UDHR is thirty articles long and was conceived as a reaction to the atrocities committed during World War II and the Holocaust. The document enumerated that all humans should be entitled to fair treatment, dignity, and equal freedoms regardless of their personal characteristics or affiliations.

Calendar For The Year 1948 Australia -- Prime Minister -- Ben Chifley -- Brazil -- President -- Gaspar Dutra -- Canada -- Prime Minister -- William Lyon Mackenzie King -- till November 15 Canada -- Prime Minister -- Louis St. Laurent -- from November 15, France -- Prime Minister -- Vincent Auriol -- From 16 January India -- Prime Minister -- Jawahar Lal Nehru -- From 15 August Italy -- Prime Minister -- Alcide De Gasperi -- Japan -- Prime Minister -- Tetsu Katayama -- Till 10 March Japan -- Prime Minister -- Hitoshi Ashida -- From 10 March Japan -- Prime Minister -- Hitoshi Ashida -- Till 15 October Japan -- Prime Minister -- Shigeru Yoshida -- From 15 October Mexico -- President -- Miguel Alem�n Vald�s -- Russia / Soviet Union -- General Secretary of the Central Committee -- Joseph Stalin -- South Africa -- Prime Minister -- Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts -- Till 4 June South Africa -- Prime Minister -- Daniel Fran�ois Malan -- From 4 June United States -- President -- Harry S.

Truman -- United Kingdom -- Prime Minister -- Clement Attlee -- Mahatma Gandhi Assassinated | History Today Mahatma Gandhi Assassinated Political January 30th, 1948 On this day, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was heading to an afternoon prayer meeting in New Delhi when out of the crowd gathering around him, rushed a man brandishing a Beretta revolver. The man – a Hindu militant called Nathuran Godse – went straight up to Gandhi and shot him three times at point-blank range. As Gandhi fell to the floor, his assassin stood still, neither running away, nor killing himself and, after a moment of dazed silence, he was seized by police to the hysterical cries of ‘Kill him! Kill him!’ from the crowd. Two hours later, Mahatma Gandhi, the Hindu spiritual leader who had contributed so much towards Indian independence, was dead. Gandhi’s violent death stands in stark contrast to his own non-violent protests, especially in the form of civil disobedience. However, that he was killed in this way highlights the resentment that his beliefs and policies aroused in certain sections of Indian society, and particularly among more extreme Hindus.

Godse was tried for the murder four months later, along with eight other conspirators. In a ninety-two page written statement submitted at the trial, Godse denounced Gandhi as ‘a political and ethical impostor’ and a ‘curse for India, a force for evil’. The bitterness felt towards Gandhi by his killers stemmed from their dissatisfaction with the outcome of independence – especially with the partition of India – in which he had played such a prominent role. Want the full article and website archive access? Already a member? Log in now Gandhi Is Killed By A Hindu; India Shaken, World Mourns; 15 Die In Rioting In Bombay Three Shots Fired Read the full text of The Times article or other headlines from the day. Gandhi Is Killed By A Hindu; India Shaken, World Mourns; 15 Die In Rioting In Bombay Three Shots Fired Slayer is Seized, Beaten After Felling Victim on Way to Prayer DOMINION IS BEWILDERED Nehru Appeals to the Nation to Keep Peace -- U.S.

Consul Assisted in Capture By Robert Trumbull Special to The New York Times RELATED HEADLINES All Britain Honors Gandhi; Truman Deplores Tragedy OTHER HEADLINES Many Homes Without Heat As Zero Cold Is Due Here; U.S.

Cuts Oil Exports 181/2%: Fuel Crisis Grows: Hundreds Of Families Reported Suffering In City Area: Petroleum Shipment Abroad Is Curbed To Ease Shortage Record 799-Million Budget Is Asked By Dewey For State: He Estimates Actual Outlay At 753 Millions For Next Fiscal Year, But Says No Rise In Taxes Is Needed -- Warns On Inflation Hope Wanes In Sea Search For 28 Aboard Lost Airliner Orville Wright, 76, Is Dead In Dayton: Co-Inventor With His Brother, Wilbur, Of The Airplane Was Pilot In First Flight Realty Valuations Rise $745,775,468 In City For 1948-49: Higher Accrued Value Is Chief Factor In $17,684,240,921 Total, Biggest Since '33 GOP Group Shares Sharp ERP Revision With Fund Reduced: A Proposal To Sell U.S. Goods To Latin America For Food For Europe Wins Favor U.S.

Warns Citizens In Palestine Fight: Consulate General Says They Face Loss Of Passports And All Protective Rights France Votes Free Gold Market, Legalizes Hidden Assets By A Tax New Delhi, India, Jan. 30 -- Mohandas K. Gandhi was killed by as assassin's bullet today. The assassin was a Hindu who fired three shots from a pistol at a range of three feet. The 78-year-old Gandhi, who was the one person who held discordant elements together and kept some sort of unity in this turbulent land, was shot down at 5:15 P. M. as he was proceeding through the Biria House gardens to the pergola from which he was to deliver his daily prayer meeting message. The assassin was immediately seized. He later identified himself as Nathura Vinayak Godse, 36, a Hindu of the Mahratta tribes in Poona. This has been a center of resistance to Gandhi's ideology. Mr. Gandhi died twenty-five minutes later. His death left all India stunned and bewildered as to the direction that this newly independent nation would take without its "Mahatma" (Great Teacher). The loss of Mr.

Gandhi brings this country of 300,000,000 abruptly to a crossroads. Mingled with the sadness in this capital tonight was an undercurrent of fear and uncertainty, for now the strongest influence for peace in India that this generation has known is gone. [Communal riots quickly swept Bombay when news of Mr. Gandhi's death was received. The Associated Press reported that fifteen persons were killed and more than fifty injured before an uneasy peace was established.] Appeal Made By Nehru Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in a voice choked with emotion, appealed in a radio address tonight for a sane approach to the future. He asked that India's path be turned away from violence in memory of the great peacemaker who had departed. Mr. Gandhi's body will be cremated in the orthodox Hindu fashion according to his often expressed wishes. His body will be carried from his New Delhi residence on a simple wooden cot covered with a sheet at 11:30 tomorrow morning. The funeral procession will wind through every principal street of the two cites of New and old Delhi and reach the burning ghats on the bank of the sacred Jumna River at about 4 P. M.

There the remains of the greatest Indian since Gautama Buddha will be wrapped in a sheet, laid on a pyre of wood and burned. His ashes will be scattered on the Jumna's waters, eventually to mingle with the Ganges where the two holy rivers meet at the temple city of Allahabad. These simple ceremonies were announced tonight by Pandit Nehru in respect to Mr. Gandhi's wishes, although many of the leaders desired that his body be embalmed and exhibited in state. India will see the last of Mr. Gandhi as it saw him when he lived -- ha humble and unassuming Hindu. News Spreads Quickly News of the assassination of Mr. Gandhi -- only a few days after he had finished a five-day fast to bring about communal friendship -- spread quickly through New Delhi. Immediately there was spontaneous movement of thousands to Biria House, home of G. D. Biria, the millionaire industrialist, where Mr. Gandhi and his six secretaries had been guests since he came to New Delhi in the midst of the disturbances in India's capital. While walking through the gardens to this evening's prayer meeting Mr.

Gandhi had just reached the top of a short flight of brick steps, his slender, brown arms around the shoulders of his granddaughters, Manu, 17, and Ava, 20. Someone spoke to him and he turned from his granddaughters and gave the appealing Hindu salute- palms together and the points of the fingers brought to the chin as in a Christian attitude of prayer. At once a youngish Indian stepped from the crowd- which had opened to form a pathway for Mr. Gandhi's walk to the pergola- and fired the fatal shots from a European made pistol. One bullet struck Mr. Gandhi in the chest and two in the abdomen on the right side. He seemed to lean forward and then crumpled to the ground. His two granddaughters fell beside him in tears. Crowd Is Stunned A crowd of about 500, according to witnesses, was stunned. There was no outcry or excitement for a second or two. Then the onlookers began to push the assassin more as if in bewilderment than in anger. The assassin was seized by Tom Reiner of Lancaster, Mass., a vice consul attached to the American Embassy and a recent arrival in India.

He was attending Mr. Gandhi's prayer meeting out of curiosity, as most visitors to New Delhi do at least once. Mr. Reiner grasped the assailant by the shoulders and shoved him toward several police guards. Only then did the crowd begin to grasp what had happened and a forest of fists belabored the assassin as he was dragged toward the pergola where Mr. Gandhi was to have prayed. he left a trail of blood. Mr. Gandhi was picked up by attendants and carried rapidly back to the unpretentious bedroom where he had passed most of his working and sleeping hours. As he was taken through the door Hindu onlookers who could see him began to wail and beat their breasts. Less than half an hour later a member of Mr. Gandhi's entourage came out of the room and said to those about the door: "Bapu (father) is finished." But it was not until Mr. Gandhi's death was announced by All India Radio, at 6 P. M. that the words spread widely. Assassin Taken Away Meanwhile the assassin was taken to a police station. He identified himself as coming from Poona.

It was remarked that the first of three attempts on Mr. Gandhi's life was made in Poona on June 25, 1934, when a bomb was thrown at a car believed to be Mr. Gandhi's. Poona is a center of the extremist anti-Gandhi orthodox Hindu Mahasabha (Great Society). The second possible attempt to assassinate Mr. Gandhi was by means of a crude bomb planted on his garden wall on Jan. 20 of this year. The only statement known to have been made by the assassin was his remark to a foreign correspondent: "I am no at all sorry." He is large for a Hindu and was dressed in gray slacks, blue pullover and khaki bush jacket. His pistol, which was snatched from him immediately after the shooting by Royal Indian Air Force Flight Sergeant D. R. Singh, contained four undischarged cartridges. Lying on a wooden cot in his bedroom, Mr. Gandhi said no word before his death except to ask for water. Most of the time he was unconscious.

When he was pronounced dead by his physician, weeping members of his staff covered the lower half of his face with a sheet in the Hindu fashion and the women present sat on the floor and chanted verses from the sacred scriptures of the Hindus. Those who could see these ceremonies through the windows knew then that Mr. Gandhi had expired. Pandit Nehru arrived at about 6 o'clock. Silently and with burning eyes he inspected the spot where Mr. Gandhi was shot and then went into the house without a word. Later he stood high on the front gate of Biria House and related the tentative funeral arrangements to several thousand persons gathered in the street and blocking all traffic. His voice shook with grief and hundreds in the crowd were weeping uncontrollably. Several thousand mourners formed orderly and quiet queues at all doors leading into Biria House and for a time they were permitted to file past the body. Later when it became evident that only a small fraction of the gathering would be able to view Mr. Gandhi's remains tonight, the body was taken to a second-floor balcony and placed on a cot fitted under a floodlamp so all in the grounds would see their departed leader.

His head was illuminated by a lamp with five wicks representing the five elements- air, light, water, earth, and fire- and also to light his soul to eternity according to Hindu belief. Pandit Nehru delivered Mr. Gandhi's valedictory in his radio address late this evening. In a quivering voice he said: "Gandhi has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. The father of our nation is no more- no longer will we run to him for advice and solace. This is a terrible blow to millions and millions in this country. "Our light has gone out, but the light that shone in this country was no ordinary light. For a thousand years that light will be seen in this country and the world will see it... Oh, that this has happened to us! There was so much more to do." Referring to the assassin Pandit Nehru said: "I can only call him a madman." He pleaded for a renewed spirit of peace, which had been Mr. Gandhi's last project, saying: "His spirit looks upon us- nothing would displease him more than to see us indulge in violence.

All our petty conflicts and difficulties must be ended in the face of this great disaster...In his death he has reminded us of the big things in life."

Question: Who was assassinated in New Delhi in 1948?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi