But when national heroes are vilified for petty political gains, it is detestable. After five stormy years in London as a law student, Savarkar galvanised the Indian revolutionary movement across Europe. Following hunger strikes by him and other political prisoners and rumours of bomb manufacturing by Savarkar at the Andaman Settlement, home member of the Government of India, Reginald H Craddock, visited and interviewed political prisoners — Savarkar, Barin Ghose, Nand Gopal, Hrishikesh Kanjilal, and Sudhir Kumar Sarkar — in 1913 to ascertain their grievances. They were asked to submit petitions for their release, which was a legitimate tool available for political prisoners. After the First World War and Emperor George V’s Royal Proclamation, political prisoners were granted unconditional amnesty, except Savarkar and his elder brother, Babarao.

Source: Hindustan Times May 17, 2019 06:51 UTC