Nathuram Godse: The Hidden Untold Truth

by Anup SarDesai

Although the police had taken every precaution not to be spotted while immersing the ashes, their entire effort would soon go in vain. One of the prison guards, after returning home from duty, mentioned this incident to a shopkeeper later in the day who in turn whispered the information to Indrasen Sharma, a local Hindu Mahasabha volunteer employed by ‘The Tribune’. Sharma, accompanied by two fellow Mahasabha activists, immediately left for the spot. They entered the river which was just six inches deep and managed to retrieve half an urn of the ashes. The urn was then handed over to Om Prakash Kohal, a lecturer in a local college, who in turn passed it on to Dr L.V. Paranjape in Nasik. There it lay in safe custody until it was handed over to Gopal after his release in 1965. It is now preserved in a silver urn and kept in Gopal’s residential flat in Pune. Every year, on 15th November, ‘Balidaan Diwas’ (Martyrdom Day) is observed in Poona and an ‘Aarti’ (Tribute) is offered to the urn.