Skip to main content

British archives document "links" Godse with RSS, is quoted as saying, RSS "welcomed" the assissination

By A Representative
Fresh evidence is claimed to have surfaced on links between Nathuram Godse, the man responsible for murdering Mahatma Gandhi, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), this time from the from the London archives of India Office Library & Records.
Being interpreted as fresh armour in the hands of those who seek to nail the RSS which claims it had no links with Godse, an “outward telegram” is being quoted to say that “it was sent by the British Foreign Office on February 13, 1948.
The telegram claimed, “It has now been established that Godse, arrested as Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, was a member of the ‘R.S.S.S.’ (sic) and of the Mahasabha”. The telegram also records: “…the initial disturbances were clearly spontaneous acts of indignation, provoked too in some places by R.S.S.S. demonstrations welcoming the assassination…”

The British Foreign Office telegram further notes “R.S.S.S. demonstrations welcoming the assassination…”
It continues, “In particular Jai Prakash Narain, the leader of the Socialist Party of India…called upon the Government to crush the Muslim League, Mahasabha and the R.S.S.S., and to resign as a symbolic atonement for its ineffectiveness in preventing the death of the Mahatma. He also demanded a change in the appointment of the Home Minister ( Sardar Patel, right wing)…”
The telegram was sent to ‘His Majesty’s Representatives’ at various capitals including Washington, Moscow, Berlin, Paris, Cairo and Kabul, says a report, adding, “The RSS has always denied any responsibility for Gandhi’s assassination, pointing out that Godse had left the RSS before committing the act.”
The RSS claims itself to be a ‘cultural organisation’ having nothing to do with politics. I also claims that neither the Gandhi assassination trial by the special court in Red Fort nor the two subsequent inquiry commissions had found enough evidence to link the RSS with the killing.
Godse, along with Narayan Apte, went to gallows on November 15, 1949 for assassinating the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Sixty-seven years later there are attempts continue to rehabilitate Godse as a ‘martyr’ and build temples in his honour, and a trial is on in a court in Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who had linked Godse with RSS.
Those who have strongly pointed towards links between RSS and Godse include well known personalities like American historian and writer Larry Collins, French writer and historian Dominique Lapierre and AG Noorani, Indian lawyer, historian and author, among others.
They have suggested that the RSS itself was an offshoot of the Hindu Mahasabha. Gopal Godse has also confirmed in various interviews that his brother had never left the RSS and that he might have denied association with the RSS to shield the organisation after the assassination.
Significantly, Noorani, among others, have pointed out that Digambar Badge, the approver in Godse’s trial, had told the court that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who lived till 1966, was part of the conspiracy to assassin Gandhi.
However, as there was not enough evidence, the court gave him the benefit of doubt. Savarkar is considered, among others, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as top the militant freedom fighter of India.

Comments

TRENDING

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative   The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra*   It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat*  As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative   The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By  A  Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

As 2024 draws nearer, threatening signs appear of more destructive wars

By Bharat Dogra  The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption of social and economic life that countless people have not yet recovered from its many-sided adverse impacts. In the next two years there were outbreaks of two very high-risk wars which have worldwide implications including escalation into much wider conflicts. In addition there were highly threatening signs of increasing possibility of other very destructive wars. As the year 2023 appears to be headed for ending on a very grim note, there are apprehensions about what the next year 2024 may bring, and there are several kinds of fears. However to come back to the year 2020 first, the pandemic harmed and threatened a very large number of people. No less harmful was the fear epidemic, the epidemic of increasing mental stress and the cruel disruption of the life and livelihoods particularly among the weaker s...

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative   A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey  visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.