Mahatma Gandhi - Dying for Freedom

On 20 January1948, Gopal Godse, a Hindu fanatic, attempted to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi. Ten days later, his brother Nathuram Godse managed to finish the job: he killed Gandhi. This documentary shows how nationalism and religious conflict dogged India's path to independence and continue to this day.

For Gopal Godse, India's Independence Day in August 1947 was a day of mourning. "Bharat Mata," "Mother India," which the young Brahmin zealously worshiped, had lost many of its provinces. Predominantly Muslim East Bengal had become East Pakistan, whilst western Punjab, the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan and the land of the warlike Pashtuns made up West Pakistan a thousand miles away. This too was predominantly Muslim. Godse didn't just see the former colonial power, Great Britain, as responsible for the "amputation," he also believed the Muslims were to blame. But, in Godse's eyes, the main culprit was a Hindu who was celebrated as a hero because he had defied the English, a small man with round wire glasses and a white cotton robe: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as "Mahatma," the great soul. The Godse brothers did not care that Gandhi had always condemned conflict between the various religious communities and opposed the partition of India. They were members of the far-right Hindu Mahasabha, the "Great Assembly of Hindus," which had close links with the anti-British and fascist National Volunteer Corps. And now extremist Hindus are gaining ground in India again...