Suddenly a stout young man in khaki elbowed his way towards Gandhiji. He appeared to want to touch the Mahatma’s feet. One of the girls, attending on Gandhiji told the young man not to do it, since it is already late for the prayer meeting, and tried to catch hold of the man’s hand. 

But he shook her off roughly and bending before Gandhiji with palms folded, fired three bullets from a pistol, one into the Mahatma’s stomach and two into his chest. Gandhiji collapsed murmuring “Ram…  Ram…”

This is how Gandhi’s great-grandson narrates the final moments in the life of one of the greatest Indians in history.

And thus Gandhi died a martyr, at the hands of one of his own people to eternal glory.

“The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere,” lamented Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru .The whole nation wept with him .The world shared India’s sense of loss showering glorious tributes to the Mahatma’s memory.