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Remembering Nayak

Grappled with Nathuram Godse just before he assassinated the Mahatma

KENDRAPARA: Every year, when the nation pays tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, Raghunath Nayak is also remembered with great respect in his native village in Orissa.

Nayak earned a permanent place in the minds of the people of Jagalaipada in Kendrapara district for he did what nobody dared — grappled with Nathuram Godse just before he shot dead the Mahatma on January 30, 1948.

Nayak, then a young gardener at Birla House in Delhi, saw Godse attempting to shoot Gandhiji and tried to stop him at the risk of his own life, but failed.

"My husband used to serve goat's milk to Gandhiji," recounts Mandodari, who was staying with her husband in the quarters allotted to him in the city at the time.

Her voice resonating with pride, she says: "I would have preferred widowhood had my husband died saving the great leader."

Nayak died in August 1983. The only recognition he received in life was from President Rajendra Prasad, who wrote to him hailing his act of selflessness and bravery.

"Even when his act of heroism found mention in the biography, Mahatma Gandhi - the Last Phase, by Gandhiji's private secretary Pyarelal, Raghu was never given his due recognition by the State Government," says a villager.

Others echo his sentiments. — PTI

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