evidence: Was there a secret understanding between Savarkar and the British? [...] On 8 March 1980, Pandit Bakhle of the Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak in Bombay (now Mumbai) wrote to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi regarding the upcoming centenary celebrations of Savarkar. In her reply dated 20 May 1980, Indira Gandhi wrote: "Veer Savarkar’s daring defiance of the British government had its own importance in the annals of our freedom movement. I wish success to the plans to celebrate the birth centenary of the remarkable son of India." She even made a private donation of Rs 11,000 to a memorial fund in his name. [...] As told to Firstpost by historian Vikram Sampath, who has just come up with a book on Savarkar, Savarkar: A Contested Legacy