When was Gandhiji’s last fast?

          Gandhiji began his last fast on 13th January 1948. He announced his intention to fast till death. He was then aged 78 and it was his eighteenth fast.

          Gandhiji’s health declined very quickly during this time. On 18th January, after five very difficult days, political and religious leaders came to assure Gandhiji that attacks would end. They promised to restore communal peace and friendship by every possible effort. Gandhiji broke his fast on the sixth day. But, without giving time for his body to recover from the fast, he again started working.

          But, there was a fraction of a society that disliked Gandhi, and slowly, their number was growing. On one of his evening prayer meetings, a bomb was thrown. It didn’t injure anyone. But it was clearly a warning sign that Gandhiji’s life was under threat.

          Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then minister of home affairs, was fearful that Gandhiji would be killed. He wanted to search everyone attending the prayer meeting. But Gandhi refused to agree to this proposal.