For almost two decades at the time of our interview he was eighty five years old and recalled every detail of the plot. But are better off now. Not to say well theyre one. Who assassinated gandhi ji. Ben long has marked. The here was. Nineteen hundred forty eight. Bread and. Water i mean did india relieve. Their bed persons. Were permitted to disperse or not live. In the indian capital delhi there are several sites dedicated to the memory of the man to whom the poet to gore gave the name mahatma great soul. This somebody this site where gandhis body was cremated on a funeral pyre of sandal wood in accordance with hindu funeral custom. The National Gandhi museum and house converted into a Memorial Museum after gandhi was assassinated on its grounds. Every day crowds of visitors flock there from all over the country bengal and Kerala Pradesh and money poor. Many indians rich or poor still see it as their duty to make the pilgrimage and pay homage. To the atmosphere feels more like a temple and museum. One room has a series of die ramas depicting key scenes from gandhis life. Visitors remove their shoes to approach the spot where the mahatma fell to the assassins bullets. Briscoes photographs gandhis meager personal belongings. His notebooks walkingstick lettice even his blood stained clothes everything related to the life of the father of the nation has been preserved. When one hundred gandhi was born in eight hundred sixty nine india was firmly under britains imperial young. Like his father he seemed destined to serve. His family belong to the banya caste hardworking merchants from western state. Gandhis marriage at the age of thirteen was a ranged he and his wife cast would have four children. When he was sixteen his father gravely ill. Described him as a devoted son. Gandhi felt that he added u. T. To his father the time he was dying and hopefully he wanted to actually be with him in his death. But on that particular day when his father became critically ill he. Felt more attracted to his wife and he was actually in the act of making love to her at the moment when his father died. A lot of historians. Gandhis life feel that this was really something that colors his whole attitude to his sexuality. To his deciding to renounce a sexual relationship with his wife. After passing his bar exams in london sunday returned to india to practise law but soon went on to take up a short Term Position in south africa he ended up staying for twenty years. Initially. In south africa live the life of a rich to have a quite an affluent lifestyle he hadnt really changed because of this very ascetic person dressing and. Clothes and so on he was wearing western style suits he was living well. But then on a train journey to pretoria a white passenger objected to gandhis presence in a first class carriage and though he had a first class ticket he was thrown off the train he resolved to stay and fight for inequality in south africa. When he returned to india in one thousand nine hundred fifteen gandhi was a changed man. The barrister had become a political activist trading his english suit and tie for a dhoti the traditional dress of the indian poor he set out to familiarize himself with the social problems in his homeland travelling by train across the country always in third class. The movement for Indian Independence was gaining momentum gandhi addressed crowds in every town and village he visited he spoke of Human Dignity justice and independence. Across the country nationalists organized bonfire protests to burn textiles imported from england gandhi launched his charkha all Spinning Wheel movement. He declared it the patriotic duty of every indian to spend two hundred yards of cotton thread a day and to boycott textiles produced in the mills of manchester and liverpool. It did become a symbol of the commitment of the nationalist corps to every every morning to sit down and to get out your Spinning Wheel to spin your cotton thread and they became very skillful at it you know they were spend hours every day doing this and gandhi saugus of something which was it was it was almost a Spiritual Task of spinning you know for the good of the nation. The nineteen thirty gandhi led the three week celts march walking three hundred fifty eight kilometers to the village of dandy on the arabian sea where he defined the british self monopolies by lifting and auctioning off this form of songs. Gandhi and his followers were arrested but it was a victory for the man who churchill contemptuously called the half naked. Coverage of the march captured the worlds attention. Gandhi had an innate sense of symbolism and mass communication. In them on there seems like a contradiction paradoxical for a man who came across as an ascetic someone who renounced worldly things in search of spiritual salvation. But he was a great politician and a great communicator us. Said. You cant use weapons with civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance the british countered with truncheons. Colonial repression was often brutal presence. Gandhi was jailed seven times for a total of. His party. Eight times serving nine years. From the beginning to the end the struggle for independence was led by the Indian NationalCongress Party. Gandhi was a guiding light. Its chief organizer. The two men shared a deep bond even if they didnt always see eye to eye. Gandhi from a traditional merchant family now and they said close in a dhoti. Nehru the anglicized brahman well dressed and elegant with ideas rooted in socialism something like. Socialism in the one nine hundred twenty s. Gandhi was prepared to tolerate that because he believed that there would always basically be dawdle to him. So that he gave narrow sort of certain amount of rope you could say. But gandhi would always be holding it im able to draw him in whenever he felt you know he was going to to to to create an extreme oh. And there when he was there you knew you know that he was it was in his interests to keep him with god but he also had a genuine affection for gandhi and there isnt father had died in nine hundred thirty one and in many respects you can see gandhi sort of taking over that position of father figure for marriage and so they do have a very close relationship despite the differences. The two men were very different not least in their views on religion. Narry was a self professed atheist something rare in a country where refusing to express religious belief is a tidbit. Gandhi was deeply religious he began each meeting with prayer. Life in india is permeated by the values of hinduism which assigns a persons caste on the basis of. That hinduism has been traditionally because it has a tolerant religion not given to proselytizing. Islam had expanded under the reign of the mugu empress in northern india to become the countrys second largest religion. In British India muslims accounted for a quarter of the population. After the countrys partition in one nine hundred forty seven that number dropped to twelve percent. Hindus and muslims had long enjoyed a peaceful coexistence until Political Representation was attached to religious identity. The Muslim League emerged as a Political Force in the one nine hundred thirty s. With the aim of protecting the interests of indian muslims. But a new goal imaged the creation after britons both drawn from india of a muslim nation pakistan or land of the pier. The party was led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah who had known gandhi for years. Both. Came from. Speaking people they were both lawyers have been educated in london received training there so in a way there was had a lot in common but unfortunately they came into very sharp conflict they are after god returned to india. In one nine hundred forty four gandhi went to meet jinnah and his private residence in bombay over the course of almost three weeks sunday timelessly tried to dissuade jinnah from his plan for a muslim pakistan. He assured him that muslims would have an honorable place in a secular and democratic india. He even offered him the post of Prime Minister in independent indias first government. To jinnah couldnt stand the affection and attention he was shunned by candy because like many muslims he viewed it as a pattern izing attempt by hindus to assimilate muslims. Gandhis saw himself as a universalist. He didnt want to be seen as hindu but as indians go with. God you know. Yet everything about his style his dress was typically hindu the man youre. So mean is a member of his embrace of renunciate or a disciplines and linking of ascetic practice with political aspirations all that created the impression of a quintessential hindu by sells. It to. Shimla the summit capital of British India. Or in the one nine hundred forty six the leaders of the Muslim League and Indian Congress party met here to discuss ways to implement gandhis vision of a united independent india. That. Never is not for diplomacy failed in the face of generous intransigence. After three weeks the talks broke down. In june our campaign centered on a single topic congress was a hindu party with a hindu leader and if hindus won the first elections after independence muslims would face assimilation and oppression to survive they needed their own state pakistan. So in one hundred forty six he decides to take the matter to the streets general had been a strictly constitutional called petition for there and hes been loyal to the british he hasnt ever been involved in civil disobedience campaigns he never adopted the sort of tart tactics that gandhi adopted the nine hundred forty six august nine hundred sixty decides to take the issue to the streets hes going to show the power of muslims in india and he has a direct actual. Ginnis call for direct action day on august sixteenth nine hundred forty six in support of the demand for pakistan sparked an eruption of harrowing violence in calcutta. Five thousand people were massacred and twenty thousand wounded most of the victims were hinting. That led to retaliatory attacks by hindus against muslims elsewhere reprisal killings spread across northern india entire families were slaughtered. Some hindus now claim their religion was too passive and lacked martial art. To them the hindu value of tolerance was an inexcusable weakness which had for centuries allowed first the moodle and then the British Empire as to enslave the hindu majority. They felt the time had come for hindus to assert themselves and for hindu men to reclaim their progress. For me they wanted to reform hindu islam and boost hindus moral and physical strength in every town and village where the movement had a local chapter activists convened mornings and evenings for ideological training and physical drills to prepare to fight muslims who were once again the enemy of the more. Well hindu nationalist. Massacred muslims Muslim League extremists fortunate hindus gandhi was horrifying. He began to fast in calcutta which he vowed to continue until the violence stopped. He refused to relinquish his vision of an india where the two communities could live in friendship and peace. And gandhi was watching all this he was doing his best he went to bangor he walked around the villages which where the muslims have massacred the landlords and he talked to the muslims he really put his life on the line and he went without any protection just a few of his followers walking on foot and he managed to persuade the muslims that there was not not right to do this as he walked people would throw glass pieces on the floor. In his spot and his answer to that was to even give more of the very simple sandals which he used. In order to walk and start walking barefoot this had a tremendous more impact and the bad it that we like to draw is between in the christian tradition the fiction of christ that is suffering for humanity tormenting the fish in order to make the martyr. Beat and then there is other retaliation by by muslims in east bengal whether in the majority they turn on him attack them massacred many then hindus and be hot on. The muslims and again they do the same in india and then in the punjab we see the muslims retaliating by attacking the sikhs and killing a lot of sikhs in march nine hundred forty seven so the whole thing is blowing up in a way thats becoming really completely uncontrollable. In march nine hundred forty seven lord louis mountbatten arrived in delhi as the last viceroy of india he had been tasked by the british Prime Minister to negotiate an exit deal with indian leaders. Batten appeared bent on hastening the end of imperial rule and soon came to favor the option of partition. Again and again india narky but. Once you are gone. But. Only after you decide. And then of course the Congress Leaders decided that they would accept the partition. Was able to stir up so much trouble for them that if they didnt concede for a separate state of pakistan then he would he would cause terrible disruption within within after independence and perhaps compromise the integrity of the Indian Nation state perhaps collapse. Was appointed ten min of the Boundary Commission in charge of equitably carving a muslim majority state from British India. He was assisted by two thousand and two muslims because he himself knew nothing of india that was why hed been chosen to guarantee objective ety and fairness. Most of indias muslims lived in the north the plan called for the creation of one state with two territories east and west pakistan located two thousand kilometers apart. But hindu and muslim communities in bengal and punjab were in extra mixed drawing board is was an exercise in absurdity. On august fifteenth one thousand. Forty seven the partition between india and pakistan was made official. As the clock had approached midnight darla nehru the first Prime Minister of independent india addressed the nation. To do. With it to me. And now all the time comes when we showed you the big at the top of the midnight hour when they were leap into our window we dont like the leader. But the very morning after independence and operations hindus in pakistan and muslims in india began to flee their homes muslims headed for pakistan well hindus set off for india. Enormous convoys of people moving in opposite directions the greatest mass migration in history. Ten Million People who are displaced many were attacked by robbers and militants along the way a Million People lost their lives. No one took responsibility for the tragedy but hindu nationalists accused gandhi of allowing muslims to steal part of the hindu nation. We went to the delhi headquarters of the rightwing hindu muss about organization. There we spoke to its then president he maintained that his was the only group that sought to defend indias integrity. Ok a lot of in the loss of love i was the only one major son in india. Richard. With the courage and explorations there. The. Dollar. Of india. We want to know did in the one in india so the hindu nationalists claim that this was a vivisection of. Something that the congress had betrayed the people in agreeing to in fact it was very much a part of their own program to have a separate state and its always serve their interests subsequently to have a separate state which is always a target is and as always a red representation really of. Indias. A few months after independence the new states waged their first war over kashmir a province with a muslim majority but a hindu maharajah the two sides agreed to a ceasefire along whats known as the line of control it divided the region into with one side and ministered by india and the other by pakistan of the three officially declared wars between india and pakistan to have been over kashmir and it remains a flash point to this day. On september the ninth nine hundred forty seven gandhi moved into the delhi home of his friend the industrialist and Congress Party supporter gunshy m does. In january of the following year gandhi began another indefinite fast saying he would only east if he saw a plan to stop the continuing violence hindus who had fled persecution in pakistan with dumbfounded by gandhis empathy for muslims which was inherent in the second indirect goal of his fasting. Going to gandhis Hunger Strike was also aimed at forcing the Indian Government to release pakistan share of assets from the treasury of British India. God. Thats good. And said that i shall strike i started die. The fifty paragraphs. Then. I shall believe my last. Moment. Some yields take me this hour did you die of Hunger Strike. Now. Hindu nationalists found it scandalous that gandhi would fast to ensure india respected the financial clauses of the partition agreement and transfer five hundred fifty million rupees to a country that had launched cross border rates on kashmir. So all on the ground did. Ready. I was part of that remember say one of the accused where theres a debate a meeting. There. Not enough they. Could. Say this might be. The attack of january twentieth was botched. It was unable to reach the window from which he planned to buy his gun he hadnt thought of bringing the latter. So hard drive from the region. If. You went inside so. I mean details just came. House you can make. Near the wall. The. Police. Actions did not take place so we are probably. So hard drive from the rig i could not reach my hand holds because. You and. So. Many throws so i just came home from hospital here in my. Near the border wall. Here duty. British police. Actions did not take place so we are probably. The group led back to to plan that we need to attack their accomplice who would set off the homemade bomb was arrested. Under interrogation he revealed the names of his coconspirators. Even now there is debate in india as to why the police failed to apprehend him for ten days. Ghandi used to sit in the monitor as you can see in this picture this was taken on twenty ninth and woody on the eve of his passing of a. He would address people who are visiting here some would be very angry with him they would think i mean i dont know there was a thinking amongst them the bottle did not do enough to prove in the partition. On the gift of jedward. Said. A strong argument to the story and very good repair. Given in their bio clock are fired maybe five years later. The problem indicates exact spork began the variables faded by the assassins bullet. In this pod no adam heart muddies this water to grow there he stepped forward. He took three steps before Mahatma Gandhi and he saw him point blank. And if you see the photograph. Of Mahatma Gandhi with the bullets its almost you know it looks like a god and. Its almost in the same missile could. Sassing gollin did Mahatma Gandhi the bullets and i think. At that one moment Mahatma Gandhi nordstrom the ashes from the earth and he became larger than life. In a radio broadcast narrow announce the news of gandhis death. The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. Near who its you know rue banned the movements he held responsible for gandhi he says has the nation. The hindu master bar and the Hindu Volunteer organization the r. S. S. Twenty thousand r. S. S. Militants were jailed so members do very last us for. Gandhi supporters targeted the brahmins of maharashtra the caste to which the assassin ghodsee belonged and which was closely associated with the hindu. And the r. S. S. Is. Then the most about who has. The trial of gandhis assassins was held at the red fought a highly symbolic location it was there that nehru had made his first speech to independent india and to this day the Prime Minister addresses crowds from the red force on independence day. India is a democracy the defendants had the right to a fair trial supposedly for the trial of the red forty offered mataram god sent the perfect platform to air his views. He refused Legal Defense and though he had lawyers he pleaded his own caps. But he did he stated that he had out it to his hindu faith and the back of a guitar which justified violence. He said he had been compelled to take action for the nation of hindus which gandy had betrayed. He needed to rid the nation of this man who persisted in weakening india starts pakistan. He described the assassination as a salutary act undertaken in the Public Interest not the rash deed of a lunatic but rather a deed motivated by political realism which had been well thought out and elect. More efficient on the. Road in and going for a. Dead man drug theyre not put on board free and happy. It may show very simple instruction. Amid a resurgence of fundamentalism in india nationalist groups like the hindu musser bar enjoying a revival. At its daily headquarters there is a statue of its late leader. A contemporary of gandhis and a nationalist but one with a very different ideology souther curse upon the idea of hindutva or hindu miss a concept that inseparably links the hindu and indian identity not on god see himself shared that i have more love than the believe me vato must there is no question that i am going to belong to. No doubt but in the wilds are our eyes not belong to going to be love. This is a doozy and of michael. Has nor part in the murder of gangly there was a very closely linked between the leader off the hindu and the assassin the main a fast in and the mean organizer of the conspiracy off. And. Not to have a good thing he had been a close associate of father for it is the decade before the assassination and this man salvage occurred was directly involved not just ideologically or inspiring but directly involved in the conspiracy to barter. Souther courier and the group with the conspirators he was also arrested and tried but denied all charges and was acquitted. Going to remember again he himself said after the first assassination attempt. Maybe the assailant is right maybe i am a nuisance in independent india says the dorset down than the one this is the classical greek tragedy in its purest form where a victim and assassin have a secret understanding with. Gandhi felt deep despair his method and his course had failed. Bustles to me. Despite his efforts to violence between hindus and muslims continued. And despite his efforts india was fractured into. What use was he alive now. That. Gandhi had envisioned an independent india that was selfsufficient and predominantly agrarian narrows approach was more grounded in economic reality he aims to combat economic stagnation and dire poverty with state centered planning and industrialization that relied on domestic industry after independence went all out for you know modernization of economic modernization and in developing Large Scale Industries building. Which he. Described as the new temples to india which would replace you know the old temples. It is difficult to know how gandhi will respond to this had he been alive after nine hundred forty eight and its likely that there would have come into some conflict over this because mayer didnt really put very much into trying to. Maintain the gandhi and economic program. To this day gandhi disciples gather on fridays to spin cotton at his Commission Site the same handwheel the same motions as back then when cotton was spun to create the basis for economic independence. And all but today its more of a ritual than a lesson in economic theory. Weve got. To. Keep even need to kill. People least. Ansible of selfsufficiency did prevail until the early one nine hundred ninety s. Measures like high tariff levels and Exchange Rate management protected domestic industry from foreign competition. Even. If it does over the past few decades the country has really opened up to the forces of globalization. The growing middle class shops at new malls of these the temples of india today. On an order if gandhi returned to india today he would be aghast to see how far the country particularly the middle class has succumbed to western consumerism. He preached the importance of selfsufficiency thing each village the defense of the weak and of form of asceticism according to such dictates as dont consume more than you need respect nature. There was a clear environmental subtext to gandhis message. If. Theyre going to. On march the twelfth two thousand and five ten months after returning to power indias Congress Party marked the seventy fifth anniversary of the so much. Hundreds of people walked in the outburst footsteps following the same three hundred fifty eight kilometer bridge for twenty six days. Marches done traditional white colored clothing made of homespun cotton. And the iconic gandhi cap. The great grandson of to her lol Nehru Rahul Gandhi was thirty five at the time of the procession and had any recently entered politics. He would go on to become passive president. He joined the marches as they reached the coast in which are at seventy five years to the day that Mahatma Gandhi shook the British Empire to its cool by harvesting a handful of salt. With their own thirty five millimeter film. Or undeterred video cameras captured the same scene. Globalization has swept aside many of gandhis principles but the mahatmas fundamental message has endured a message that speaks of the power of peace forgiveness and freedom and can transcend even the hatreds that killed him. What drives the economy. Is the economy. Made in germany always has its finger on the pulse. Of the most splendid listeners to. Live. Made in germany in thirty minutes dublin. Climate change. Pollution safety. Isnt it time for good news eco africa people and projects that are changing our lives are meant for the better to us to make a difference lets inspire other. Eco an environment magazine live. Long d. W. Youre going to one official estimates more than one point two million venezuelans live in colombia needly and illegally. Already. Returned to. To visit friends you thought i dont think id ever go back there to live you know what i live there again i dont know so im not sure. Witness global news that matters. Made for mines. Plane. This is deja news coming to you live from berlin hailing a new moment american moment at the u. S. President delivers his plus state of the Union Address and the president who is on a series of polarized a bipartisan push on key to forums that can trump live up to his own poetry unit. Or so coming up more than