Gandhi's Last Campaign

Mohandas Gandhi, the most famous leader of Indian nationalism, did not celebrate on 15 August 1947. He was in Calcutta, fasting and praying for peace, and his presence is credited with helping keep that city relatively calm while Punjab burned. In September he fasted again in Calcutta, and in January 1948 he began a fast in Delhi to demand communal harmony and the payment of money owed to Pakistan from the division of assets.

His insistence on fair treatment of Muslims angered Hindu nationalist extremists. On 30 January 1948 he was shot dead at a prayer meeting in Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist. Nehru told the nation 'the light has gone out of our lives'. The assassination shocked India, led to a temporary ban on the Hindu nationalist organization the RSS, and strengthened the government's commitment to a secular constitution.