The ideas of Savarkar’s India and Gandhi’s decentralized India that belonged to everybody did not remain very different after Independence. What the Sangh Parivar could not do, Indira Gandhi did. During his regime, Atal Bihari Vajpayee brought India and Pakistan a little closer. He ruled as a tall leader reminiscent of Nehru.

My favourite definition of Unity in Diversity is this: If we take unity to an extreme and seek to destroy diversity (as Savarkar did), diversity becomes important. If you keep diversity as the centre and take it to an extreme, you get the feeling that India is one. Our differences do not seem so significant.

The unity that Gandhi desired was one in which everyone retained their faith, preserved their own unique cultures and accepted ahimsa. Unity comes naturally to those who live in harmony despite their differences.

Whether it is Godse or Savarkar, what they broadly wanted was unity of the Hindus of India. A unity that ignores the inherent diversity, and silences those who do not consider India their punyabhoomi. Without this unity it is impossible to build a strong nation.

This is the sum of what Godse has said. There is clarity in his vision. There is an awareness that he is killing a man of Gandhi’s stature. His position is that the country comes before a great saint. It is Savarkar’s writings that have made such a thought process possible. His ideology makes it possible to only contemplate that which is relevant

Gandhi alone in independent India foresaw this danger. Gandhi marched in Noakhali barefoot, put his celibacy to test, suffered great pain internally and externally, saved the lives of Hindus and came to Delhi on his way to Punjab. He noticed that Vallabhbhai Patel, who had come to receive him at the railway station, was not his usual self. Seeing

Gandhi and Tagore held that even a broad-minded idea of nationalism is dangerous.

‘Why do you oppose Indira Gandhi? I just don’t understand it. She dismissed the DMK government that was inimical to the Aryans. She enforced family planning programmes on Muslims to prevent them from having too many children. She split Pakistan and facilitated the creation of Bangladesh. She got India the atom bomb. By annexing Sikkim, she expanded

If Gandhi, who believed that human beings were capable of instant change in their personal lives, their thoughts and their behaviour, had lived for ten years more, he would have been a daily embarrassment for the government. While Godse caused the government to feel orphaned, he saved it from embarrassment. That is the harsh truth.