Veteran freedom fighter Bhiku Daji Bhilare popularly referred to as Bhilare Guruji, who is credited in certain accounts with having saved Mahatma Gandhi from an attempt on his life by Nathuram Godse in Panchgani in 1944, passed away in Bhilar near the hill station on Wednesday. He was 98.
In interviews given to several writers, Bhilare had said, “Everyone was allowed to attend Mahatma Gandhi’s prayer meetings in Panchgani. That day, his associates Usha Mehta, Pyarelal, Aruna Asaf Ali and others were present for the prayers. Godse rushed up to Gandhiji with a knife saying that he had some questions. I stopped him, twisted his hand and snatched the knife. But Gandhiji let him go.”
The commission of Supreme Court judge J K Kapur was set up on March 22, 1965, to probe the conspiracy behind Gandhi’s assassination. Shortly after his release from the Aga Khan Palace where he was incarcerated in 1944, Gandhi contracted malaria and had gone to Panchgani to take rest on his doctor’s advice.
