Savarkar’s Mercy Petition 30th March 1920
After his conviction for the murder of A.T.M. Jackson, Collector of Nashik district, who was “sympathetic towards Indian aspirations”, Savarkar was brought to the Andamans in 1911. This was the only murder he had conspired to commit for which he was punished. He got away with the other three Curzon-Wylie of the India Office in 1909; attempted murder of the Acting Governor of Bombay, Ernest Hotson, in 1931 (he was saved by his bullet-proof vest); and Gandhi’s on January 30, 1948. In each case, the trigger was pulled by someone else; the assassin was prodded by Savarkar Here is a list of the apologies and undertakings which Savarkar offered from 1911 to 1950 1. Savarkar was lodged in the Cellular Jail on July 4, 1911. Within six months, he submitted a petition for mercy. 2. In October 1913, the Home Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, Sir Reginald Craddock, visited the Jail and met Savarkar among others. His note of November 23, 1913, recorded Savarkar’s pleas for merc