For more than six decades,the First Information Report on Mahatma Gandhis assassination gathered dust in the dingy record room of the Tughlaq Road police station in New Delhi. Until,Madan Gopal came across it. Realising the importance of the FIR written in Urdu hours after the assassination,Station House Officer Gopal has got it preserved,translated,laminated and put up for display in his office. A Hindi translation has been placed right below the original. According to Gopal,it is a small tribute to the Father of the Nation. Gandhi gave us freedom,a new sense of direction. So,I thought it was important for people to see this FIR. I got it translated and displayed. Tughlaq Road is a historic police station and we must do all to preserve its contents, he said. FIR No 68 was registered at 9.45 pm on January 30,1948 after eyewitness Nandlal Mehta lodged a formal complaint with police about the shooting. Mehta was present at Birla House and had explained the incident in great detail. He used to live in Connaught Circus and claimed to be a follower of Gandhi, Gopal said. Mehtas account states that Gandhi left his chambers at 5.10 pm with Abha Behn and Kumari Behn and walked across the Birla House lawns,leaning on their shoulders for support. Two more girls and an aide,Brij Kishan Chandi,were walking alongside,followed by women from the Birla family and their staff. Mahatma Gandhi approached the steps leading to the prayer hall and greeted everyone around with folded hands. Suddenly,a man appeared from the crowd and standing 2-3 feet away from him,fired three rounds from his pistol,which hit the Mahatma in his stomach and chest. He started bleeding profusely and mumbling Hey Ram,fell backwards, the FIR quotes Mehta. As per Mehta,it was later learnt that the assailant was Narayan Vinayak Godse,a resident of Poona,and that he too collapsed immediately after he shot Gandhi dead. A case of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was registered. Lauding the effort taken to preserve the FIR,Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) K C Dwivedi said nobody from any institution had ever approached him to discuss the FIR. Gandhiji laid down his life for certain ideals. It is our duty to preserve his legacy. The decision of maintaining and translating it was purely the effort of the SHO, Dwivedi said. Mani Mala,Director of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti,told Newsline that the museum had not given the matter a thought yet but said it was a good idea to display the original FIR there. I took over (as director) a year ago and since then,we have been busy with a number of other programmes. Though it is a long and complicated effort,I will definitely take steps to get the FIR here, Mani Mala said. The Birla House where Gandhi was assassinated is now the Gandhi Smriti,a museum.
