Former Supreme Court justice K.T. Thomas, who came in for severe criticism for his remarks absolving the RSS from Mahatma Gandhi assassination said he is still stuck to his gun.
“Godse was part of RSS. But, he’d left the organisation before he killed Gandhi since he found it too soft. So, you can’t blame it on RSS,” Mr Thomas told this newspaper. Mr Thomas said the judiciary in the country, so far, couldn’t find any evidence against the RSS. The case was first heard at Red Fort by Justice Atmacharan who didn’t find any RSS link. Nor the bench headed by Justice Khosle.
“Later, Nehru even ordered a probe which drew a blank. After this, in 1966 Indira Gandhi ordered a judicial probe headed by Justice J.L. Kapoor who also couldn’t find any RSS connection,” Mr Thomas revealed.
When the whole judicial and democratic means had been expended, the country should put an end to the debate, he said. “It’s unjust and unfair to drag the RSS name again and again,” he said.
He said, the biography written by Robert Payne, author of The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi also couldn’t find any RSS link. “My comment on the subject should be treated as a judicial analysis,” he observed.
Stating that Congress leaders like Chennithala wouldn’t know much about history, he said the RSS was still being blamed for minority votes. “I don’t know whether Chennithala had read Robert’s work,” he teased.
He further said when Gandhi was assassinated, the then RSS president Golvarkar was in Madras. “The outfit went into an immediate mourning. Ideologically, we may differ. But, you can’t question their patriotism,” he said.