8 Famous Political Assassinations That Shook The World
4. Mahatma Gandhi (India)
Why would a man associated with non-violence, civil rights and peace be assassinated? Well, when you are the forerunner to the leadership of the independence movement in British-controlled India, there are always going to be some people who dont like you. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - better known by the name Mahatma, meaning venerable vehemently opposed British rule on the subcontinent and led a non-violent civil disobedience movement which inspired civil rights activists across the globe. Although a large proportion of the Indian population loved Gandhi, some Hindu nationalists were not supporters of his methods. When Gandhi walked into the garden of the former Birla House in New Delhi on January 30, 1948, alongside his grandnieces on his way to pray, he was shot and killed with three bullets fired by Nathuram Godse. Godse, a member of an extremist group named Hindu Mahasabha, hated Gandhis non-violent approach to protest and believed him to favour Pakistans cause over Indias. After being tried in 1949, Godse was executed for the murder of Gandhi - whose last words are believed to have been He Ram (Oh God), which are written on an epigraph on his memorial. Following Gandhis death, more than two-million people lined the streets to witness his five-mile long funeral procession. In death, Gandhi has gone on to symbolise Indias independence as a nation.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
