Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar had filed five mercy petitions with the British colonial administration and referred to the cow not as a god but as a “useful animal”, Live Law on Saturday quoted his grandnephew Satyaki Savarkar as having told a Pune court.
The statements were made by Satyaki Savarkar while being cross-examined by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s counsel in a criminal defamation case.
The case pertains to a complaint filed by Satyaki Savarkar in April 2023 against Gandhi, accusing him of making fictitious, false and malicious remarks about the Hindutva ideologue during an event in London in March 2023.
Satyaki Savarkar alleged that Gandhi had made the remarks “fully knowing the said allegations to be untrue, with the specific objective of harming the reputation and to defame the surname Savarkar…”
He had also claimed that a book Gandhi allegedly relied on to make the remarks did not exist and that the Congress leader should be asked to produce it if it did. However, in July, the court ruled that Gandhi cannot be compelled to produce material that could be used as evidence against him, as it would violate his right against self-incrimination.
In April 2025, the court allowed Gandhi’s request to change the nature of the proceedings from a summary trial to a summons trial to allow for more detailed evidence and historical context to be presented.
During the hearing, Satyaki Savarkar said that “it is true to say that Savarkar had filed mercy petitions five times while he was in the Cellular Jail”, Live Law reported. “That not only Savarkar but many political prisoners have sent similar petitions to the British government,” he was quoted as having added.
The Hindutva ideologue’s grandnephew said: “It is not true to say that, according to some historians, Savarkar is accused of having proposed the two-nation concept. That Savarkar made factual comments about the two-nation dispute, but the original concept was not his but was proposed by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.”
“It is true to say that, reference is made to Savarkar’s view that the cow is a useful animal, not a god,” Live Law quoted him as having stated.
Satyaki Savarkar also said that “it is not true to say that, [VD] Savarkar is accused of appealing for recruitment into the British Army” during the Second World War, The New Indian Express reported.
“That this is not an accusation, but an objection, such objections are raised without understanding Savarkar’s role,” Satyaki Savarkar stated.
He added: “The purpose was to provide young people with military training, firearms training, and experience in holding various positions in the army by joining the then Indian Army, so that after India became independent, it would have its own armed forces at its disposal to maintain its independence…”
When Gandhi’s counsel asked him why VD Savarkar had not been “glorified” more than Indian anti-colonial revolutionaries such as Bhagat Singh, he said that “debates and differences of opinion are part of every great man” and that it is the Union government that decides on matters related to “national pride”.
“The objections to Savarkar’s views on cows or military recruitment have been made without fully understanding his role,” Live Law quoted Satyaki Savarkar as saying. “I would like those who object to this to first read all of Savarkar’s views. I would also like to say once again that revolutionists should not be compared with each other.”
The cross-examination is expected to continue on June 1.
Also read: Fact check: Did VD Savarkar write mercy petitions on Gandhi’s advice, as Rajnath Singh claimed?
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