He also told her that some goondas of Poona were
preparing to burn houses of Brahmins. Are these not
enough to indicate that there was a larger conspiracy?
Which part of the Kapur Commission report are you
objecting to?
The Kapur Commission is destructive of every other
theory than the theory to kill by Savarkar. He men-
tions it not in his fi ndings, but in the observations.
First of all, the Kapur Commission was barred by res
judicata—matter already judged—to opine whether
Savarkar was guilty or not. That was the job of the trial
court or the High Court. Kapur was a retired judge.
He was not a court of appeal. He could not rule on
whether Savarkar was innocent or guilty. Secondly,
he submitted his report in 1969. Savarkar was dead in
- So you condemn a man who is dead and whom
you give no opportunity to defend himself.
The most objectionable part is in the findings where
he maligns entire Marathi speaking people. He says
that after Madanlal Pahwa was arrested, the police
became somewhat complacent and they did not expect
the escapee conspirators to display such speed and
agility as was displayed by the Maratha army in the
bygone days. Where does Maratha army come in this?
Who do you associate Maratha army with? Shivaji
Maharaj, right? Shivaji was dead in 1680. What is the
relevance? Justice Kapur is a commission of inquiry,
he has to go by evidence.
What he is trying to justify is the conduct of Deputy
Inspector General U.H. Rana who was told on January
24 that people from
Poona were trying
to kill Gandhi. Rana
doesn’t call up Poona,
he does not fly to
Poona. He takes a
train from Delhi and
goes to Allahabad.
And that callousness
is being justified by
blaming Maratha
army?
You claim there was
another shooter?
I am assuming that
there was another
shooter because there
is a fourth bullet
which Godse’s pistol
could not account for.
So it is a deduction. I
am saying there was
organised effort.
By Force 136?
Yes. That is my al-
legation. I am only
repeating the allegation made to Vijayalakshmi
Pandit by the ambassadors in 1948.
What is the importance of the fourth bullet?
Do we not need to know who fi red the fourth
bullet? This material discrepancy of three and
four bullets amounts to a huge cover-up. Could
the motive not have been to derail Gandhi’s
visit to Pakistan? Because he had got permission
from Jinnah on January 27. Kuldeep Nayar’s
account talks about Gandhi having readied 50
Punjabi families who were to travel with him
and stay in Lahore. So Gandhi was trying to in-
duce a reverse migration. Rajmohan Gandhi has
written that, on January 16, Gandhi felt that all
differences between India and Pakistan could
be reconciled, including the problem of Kash-
mir. If the motive was to stop that, should that
motive not become known to us? Is it irrelevant?
You have talked about US diplomat Herbert
Tom Reiner.
The New York Times reported that Tom Reiner
apprehended Godse with the help of others. I
went to the US national archives. I found two
telegrams.- The first telegram said Gandhi had been shot.
- The second telegram, sent at 8pm, speaks about
Reiner. That he was fi ve feet away and he appre-
hended Godse along with Indian security peo-
The Kapur
Commission
is destructive
of every
other theory
than the
theory to kill
by Savarkar.
Holed at
heart:
Mahatma
Gandhi
after being
shotTHE WEEK NOVEMBER 12, 2017^37