Every year, on the birth anniversary of Veer Savarkar, columnists and editors dig up the clemency petitions written by him. Their line is that Savarkar capitulated to the British and hence cannot be considered as brave or “Veer”.



Though the false propaganda about the clemency petitions of Savarkar has been busted many times already, it needs to be called out this year too as it has resurrected ritualistically. It also provides us with an opportunity to delve deep into the contributions Savarkar made to India’s freedom struggle in his own way, fortified in a steely silence of secrecy.

Savarkar In Andaman

Savarkar entered Andaman prisons in 1910 with a badge marked ‘D’ for dangerous. There he was specially targeted and subjected to cruelties. Every time there was a disturbance, Savarkar was punished. It was clear that the British government did not want him to leave the prison alive. Yet Savarkar endured all that. But he never believed in rotting in the cell either while he could do valuable work for the freedom struggle by getting himself free. He did sign the clemency petitions. He, at the same time, also appealed for the freedom of other prisoners. Those who quote selectively almost always never quote this passage from his ‘clemency’ petition:

If the manhood of the nation be allowed to phase glories and responsibilities of the empire with perfect equality with other citizens of it, then Indian patriots of all shades and opinions can conscientiously feel that burning sense of loyalty that one feels for one's motherland. I also beg to submit that nothing can contribute so much to the widening and deepening of the sentiment of loyalty as a general release of all those prisoners who had been convicted for committing political offences in India. With my exception, let all the rest be released. Let the volunteer movement go on and I will rejoin in that.

Denigrating Veer Savarkar always involves half-truths, sometimes literally. For example, in The Week, Niranjan Takle, trying to show Savarkar as having submitted to the British, writes: "For the last five years, his behaviour has been very good. He is always suave and polite,” reads the report. But what he does not tell his readers is that the entire line in the report is actually a negative observation on Savarkar by the government. It reads: "He is always suave and polite but like his brother, he has never shown any disposition to actively assist Government. It is impossible to say what his real political views are at the present time."

In fact, after his 1913 petition, his punishment record in the prison was not exactly that of a person whose will was broken. Here are some samples of punishments he underwent in 1914: