I am Nathuram Godse Speaking - (with ENGLISH subtitles) (Part-8 of 8)

Devidas-ji... Please have a seat.
This is the permission letter from the Home Dept.
That wasnt necessary. But I will need it for the record.
Home Dept. had called up lending you special permission to meet.
Where is Nathuram?
Can I not see him in his cell?
Umm...no...
I mean I don't have such orders. For security reasons.
There are just 8 days left for hanging. We have to go through rehearsals.
Rehearsals? Of hanging?!
Of course...
The neck is measured.
A dummy of an equivalent weight is made & is rehearsed with.
Why a dummy with the same weight?
Without the rope's length & weight being perfect, a proper jerk is difficult.
To the neck!
Of course, all this is done so that the convict has minimum suffering at the end.
Does Nathuram know all this?
He has a cell which faces all this.
When he gets out for his bath, he chats with the hanging staff.
He is different.
He...Nana Apte.
- That day a staffer was saying... - What was he saying, Jailer Sir?
- What defamation was going on? - No, no defamation Pandit-ji.
- The staffer was saying... - Oh that. He weighed me this morning.
But the dummy was ill-prepared.
The jerk wasn't quite right. The staffer was sweating.
I offered to stand in for the dummy But that was against the rules.
How can you be so detached?
Because I am.
I am detached.
Will you have coffee? I will get it
(Smiles)
The coffee isnt coming till you leave.
Why do you say so? I think he is a good man.
He is a good man & hence the coffee wont come till you leave.
As per rules, we can't meet in private. Coffee is an excuse, a loophole.
So how come you are here?
After 2 years!
No..umm...I...
I wanted your signature on some paperwork.
Paperwork.
I wanted your sign on the Case-Representation papers.
Why?
- I am a lawyer. - But a client signs such papers.
And any client would need a reason.
I want to accept your case.
I represented my own case. And its over.
No.
You left out few points.
- I want to challenge your death penalty. - I want a death penalty.
Why?
Because I assassinated.
A killer does not have the right to live.
- I don't wish you to represent me. - Why?
Let me tell you.
I knew the moment you mentioned those papers. But I avoided answering lest it might hurt you.
Gandhi despised violence, so even his killer should not be punished to death. Isnt that your argument?
But it doesn't fit into the law. A lawyer should ask for the sign only after he fully explains the law.
Law is above emotions & personal differences.
Are you accusing me of doing this for a personal gain?
(Shakes head) I am stating that.
If you so desired to represent, why didn't you represent Tatyarao Savarkar?
Or Nana Apte?
Why didn't you stand by these innocent people?
You are standing by Nathuram.
A rather weak attempt at proving the non-violent principle of your father.
- Nathuram - Forgive me, Devidasji.
I can think of Gandhi beyond a person, as an idea.
You cannot.
What have you thought?
I have thought a lot. But you delayed asking this by 2 years.
- What have you thought? - Me?
Yes you.
I had assured you during our last meeting that the motive behind this assassination was political.
Yes, I remember.
- But you don't agree. - Yes, I really don't agree.
And you are here to honestly seek that agreement.
Yes.
But you came here today.
Because after 8 days, you will forever have that guilt.
If not now, there wont be ever.
Please have a seat.
Would you like to have coffee?
You said it wont come till I leave.
It will come if you really want it.
No. Thank you.
I am writing my will. Do you want to know my 1st last-wish?
Not to dissolve my ashes until Sindhu is part of an Undivided India.
Only then dissolve them in Sindhu.
It's ok if they need to be transferred across generations to come. But preserve them.
In the Hindu religion the ashes are dissolved on the 10th day. Until then they are kept outside the house.
The soul isn't freed unless the ashes are dissolved.
But I am going to cage my soul on purpose.
- I wont let it be free. - But why?
Because just as Gandhi is your father, he is also my 'Father of the Nation'.
Gandhi's last wish was for his ashes to be dissolved in all the rivers.
But Pakistan refused it for river Sindhu. As if that Holy Water was going to be despoiled by his ashes.
I had written to the Indian Govt. then.
To preserve at least a part of Gandhi's ashes.
Because the brave soldiers of this country will someday surely bring back Sindhu.
Then to dissolve those ashes in Sindhu.
And this will happen someday, because this is the country full of the brave's.
But my request wasn't heeded.
Gandhi's soul is thus caged, & hence I wont let my soul be free as well.
I think I am the only one to stand by his principles both during life & after it.
I had no personal enmity against your father.
But the good of my country lied in his physical destruction.
I may not be wise, but I have spent few years with the wise.
I may not be wealthy, but I lived pretty well.
I had my standing & respect.
I knew I would lose all this after assassinating Gandhi. But I accepted death.
I did not run away like a coward.
I wanted to give my reasons. Because I had them. I had my principles.
Not because he was my father...
- But he in fact was great. - Of course, he was great.
That fact shall always stay.
His brave fight against racial discrimination in South Africa is commendable.
His effort of knowing the real India by visiting its villages was honorable.
Dandi March, Chale Jao Movement, Salt Satyagraha...all these made even me his devotee.
Even I protested when he was arrested.
- But you still... - Partition was unnecessary.
Partition was unnecessary.
Gandhi's decision was wrong.
The massacre of refugees.
The 55 Crores donated to Pakistan to be used against our own soldiers fighting in Kashmir!
All this was unforgiveable.
- But he never differentiated between Hindus & Muslims. - But Pakistan did.
- And this is Gandhi's greatest defeat. - Where did Pakistan differentiate?
Then why didn't they allow his ashes to be dissolved in Sindhu?
When Gandhi died, Pakistan Radio announced “A Hindu Leader died”.
We were telling him the same thing “Gandhi you are ours ”. But he used to say “I am theirs ”.
But he was of the whole mankind.
Then why did we fight the British? They were humans as well.
Why did he fight the Whites in South Africa? They were humans as well.
You could have made a very good lawyer.
You are a lil' late in giving that suggestion.
The real opponents of Gandhi & Gandhism are his followers.
What!
I fired...Gandhi collapsed...
He uttered an unclear 'ahh'.
But the rumors were spread far & wide Gandhi's final words were “Hey Ram!”
- He didn't say “Hey Ram”? - Of course not!
I was repeatedly forced to lie about this thing, but I was firm.
Why should I lie if he never uttered "Hey Ram".
But if it gets noted down in History as such --
-- then it will be the greatest defeat of Gandhi & Gandhism itself.
How do you say that?
The man who never discriminated between Ram & Rahim, Krishna & Karim --
-- Will he bespeak of only Ram while dying?
He will bespeak of both Ram & Rahim, isn't it?
And if it was just one, it would have been Rahim. Because Ram was in his heart, Rahim in his words.
15 November 1949
At 8 in the morning, Nathuram Godse & Nana Apte were hanged.
Both held the Symbol of an Undivided India, a Saffron Flag & Baghvad Geeta.
After the noose was tied around the neck, both raised the slogans --
“Long Live Undivided India” and “Vande Mataram”
Then...
...the lever was pulled.