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| The 30' fall |
Singlehandedly, Savarkar was responsible
for casting a blight on the might of the British Raj and causing it much
embarrassment:
(1) To grant the warrant of extradition of Savarkar to Bombay, the British legal system in Britain—so proud of their fairness and laws—compromised itself.
(2) Britain, the Refuge of Political Refugees, who battled with other countries and put spokes in their wheels by giving asylum to political refugees, was now in the position of inventing, disregarding, and breaking laws to squash one colossal danger to their empire: Savarkar. |
| SS Morea showing location of the porthole |
·
July 1, 1910:
the SS Morea sailed with Savarkar on
board. Knowing that failure would mean a horrendous fate, he still undertook to
do the impossible for the tremendous international publicity and recognition it
would bring to the Indian freedom cause.
·
July 8, 1910:
in the early morning, Savarkar squeezed out of a 13" diameter porthole of
a toilet—while a British officer was right outside and he was spotted dangling
half in-half out—and dropped to the quay water (a drop of 30') just 2-3 feet
away from the edge of the dock. It was the most dangerous, dashing, and daring
dive.
·
Before his
flabbergasted guards could formulate a plan of action, Savarkar swam to the
other end of the dock, climbed the 9' sheer quay wall—using mere toes and
fingers to grip—and ran for safety.
·
This created an
unprecedented (till today) international situation. To counteract it, the
British officers guarding him did the only thing they could do:
(1) broke the basic
international law of jurisdiction
(2) kidnapped Savarkar
off the shores of Marseilles and back to the SS Morea taking aid of a French sergeant for the sake of appearances
and
(3) sent a doctored,
not-so-truthful-account to their superiors by telegram.
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