Narayan Apte

Narayan Apte was born in the year 1911. Narayan was an activist in the Freedom Movement. He was an entrepreneur as well. He is famous because of his cruel act as he executed the assassination of the leader of theFreedom Movement, Mahatma Gandhi. The incident created a wave of religious and sentimental disturbance across the country. He came up to Gandhi and shot him with his gun. Narayan graduated in 1932 from the Bombay University with a Bachelors Degree in Science.

After his graduation he got a job offer as a school teacher in Ahmednagar which he readily accepted. While he was staying in Ahmednagar and teaching in the school, he got married to Champa, who was the daughter of Mr. Phadtare. After his marriage, he sat for the B. T. Examination. He passed the exam with good marks and obtained his degree. In the year 1939, Narayan became a member of the Hindu Mahasabha. Gandhi at that time was staying at Panchgani continuing his works to achieve Freedom from the British Rule. Leading a group of about twenty-five men Narayan began protesting against Gandhi and his policies and rules. His protest began in 1944 on the 22nd of July.

It was not new for Apte as he had previously done the same thing against Gandhi while his stay in Sweeper’s Colony in Delhi. Apte knew astrology and considered himself as high in matters related to reading stars and predicting future. One of his predictions was that by killing Gandhi India and Pakistan would reunite and he would be able to live happily but, it turned out to be the opposite. Nathuram Godse, who shot Mahatma Gandhi with bullets, was a close friend of Narayan and they both worked in the Hindu Mahasabha.

In 1944a Marathi Daily Agrani was published and Godse was the editor of the daily whereas Narayan was his manager. The daily newspaper had the picture of V. D. Savarkar on the front page. He was present at the location where Godse shot and killed Gandhi. Both these meddlers were hanged until death in Ambala Jail. They were hung on 15th of November in the year 1949. Their action resulted in an emotional setback to the people of the country. Gandhi’s untimely death left everyone in tears. The man, who helped India gain Freedom, could not enjoy the Freedom for which he had fought so hard.