NEW DELHI: On Saturday, when Union home minister L K Advani names Andamans airport after Veer Savarkar, he will attempt to draw a line over an uncomfortable facet of the Hindutva iconâ€™s personality. For, unlike other patriots like Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Ashfaqullah, who refused to ask the British Raj for mercy even at the cost of their lives, Savarkar, the father of the BJPâ€™s Hindutva ideology, had actually sought clemency while lodged in Andamansâ€™ Cellular Jail.

Savarkarâ€™s letter asking for forgiveness dated November 14, 1913 is reprinted in a book, Penal Settlement In Andamans, published by the Gazetteers Unit of Union ministry of education.

Savarkar described himself as a â€˜â€˜prodigal sonâ€™â€™ longing to return to the â€˜â€˜parental doors of the governmentâ€™â€™. While referring to his earlier letter of clemency in 1911, Savarkar wrote, â€˜â€˜...if the government in their manifold beneficence and mercy release me, I for one cannot but be the staunchest advocate of constitutional progress and loyalty to the English government which is the foremost condition of that progress. As long as we are in jails, there cannot be real happiness and joy in hundreds and thousands of homes of His Majestyâ€™s subjects in India, for blood is thicker than water; but if we are released, the people will raise a shout of joy and gratitude to the government, who knows how to forgive and correct, more than how to chastise and avenge.â€™â€™

Savarkar went on to add, â€˜â€˜Moreover, my conversion to the constitutional line would bring back all those misled young men in India and abroad who were once looking up to me as their guide. I am ready to serve the government in any capacity they like, for as my conversion is conscientious so I hope my future conduct would be. By keeping me in jail, nothing can be got in comparison to what would be otherwise. The Mighty alone can afford to be merciful and, therefore, where else can the prodigal son return but to the parental doors of the government.â€™â€™