Which leader of the Indian independence movement was assassinated in New Delhi in 1948?

Mahatma Gandhi was the Indian independence leader assassinated in New Delhi on 30 January 1948.

Gandhi was shot during an evening prayer meeting at Birla House, now Gandhi Smriti, in central New Delhi. He was walking toward the gathering at approximately 5:17 p.m. when Nathuram Godse approached him and fired three shots at close range. Gandhi was 78 years old.

The assassination came only months after India gained independence and was partitioned in 1947. Gandhi had worked to reduce Hindu-Muslim violence and had undertaken fasts to pressure communities and governments toward peace. His efforts made him revered by millions but also drew fierce opposition from Hindu nationalist critics, including Godse.

Godse was arrested at the scene and later tried with several alleged conspirators. He and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death and hanged in 1949. Jawaharlal Nehru, another major independence leader, was India’s first prime minister, but he was not the person assassinated in 1948—a common confusion caused by their close political association.