Good morning, Whitewater.
Saturday in town will be partly cloudy and mild, with a high of forty-one. Sunrise is 7:01 and sunset 7:05, for 9h 54m 42s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 64.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1948, a violent fanatic assassinates Gandhi:
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated in the garden of the former Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) at 5:17 pm on 30 January 1948. Accompanied by his grandnieces, Gandhi was on his way to address a prayer meeting, when his assassin,Nathuram Godse, fired three bullets from a Beretta 9 mm pistol into his chest at point-blank range.[143] Godse was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi guilty of favouring Pakistan and strongly opposed the doctrine of nonviolence.[144] Godse and his co-conspirator were tried and executed in 1949. Gandhi’s memorial … bears the epigraph … which may be translated as “Oh God”. These are widely believed to be Gandhi’s last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement has been disputed.[145] Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation through radio:[146]
Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country.—Jawaharlal Nehru’s address to Gandhi[147]
Gandhi’s death was mourned nationwide. Over two million people joined the five-mile long funeral procession that took over five hours to reach Raj Ghat from Birla house, where he was assassinated. Gandhi’s body was transported on a weapons carrier, whose chassis was dismantled overnight to allow a high-floor to be installed so that people could catch a glimpse of his body. The engine of the vehicle was not used; instead four drag-ropes manned by 50 people each pulled the vehicle.[148] All Indian-owned establishments in London remained closed in mourning as thousands of people from all faiths and denominations and Indians from all over Britain converged at India House in London.[149]