By Pooja Chaudhuri

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday claimed that Hindu Mahasabha leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar filed mercy petitions before the British government following Mahatma Gandhi’s advice. Singh was speaking at the launch of a book on Savarkar ‘Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition’, authored by Uday Mahurkar and Chirayu Pandit.

“Lies were spread about Savarkar. Time and again, it was said he filed mercy petitions before the British government. But the truth is that he did not file mercy petitions for his release [from jail]. A prisoner has the right to file mercy petitions. It was Mahatma Gandhi who asked him to file mercy petitions. He filed a mercy petition after Gandhi’s advice. Mahatma Gandhi had appealed that Savarkar ji should be released. He said as we have been peacefully protesting to gain independence, Savarkar ji will also carry forward the protest,” claimed the Defence Minister, concluding that the claim – Savarkar had filed a mercy petition and begged for forgiveness – is false and baseless.

( Link https://twitter.com/ndtv/status/1448109606937546753?t=OUsS7iZXPYtkJCMCDio-2A&s=19)

Pro-BJP website Swarajya wrote an article claiming that Singh’s assertion was true. “Congress leaders and left-wing activists, including Marxist historians, who have for decades attempted to limit Savarkar’s legacy to his mercy petition and deny him the stature of a freedom fighter—a rightful place in history, have claimed that the Defence Minister’s statement is false,” reads the article.

Swarajya cited Vikram Sampath’s book on Savarkar to support its claim. “…In 1920 Gandhiji advised Savarkar brothers to file a petition & even made a case for his release through an essay in Young India 26 May 1920,” reads Sampath’s tweet. Sampath is a biographer of VD Savarkar.

( Link https://twitter.com/vikramsampath/status/1448149160138395649?t=3nWLmLSCDd1O7TZe9GRaiQ&s=19)

Did Savarkar indeed file mercy pleas following Gandhi’s advice?

After his arrest by the British government on March 13, 1910, Savarkar was brought to the Cellular Jail (Kala Pani) in Andamans on July 4, 1911.

Read the full story here:- https://www.altnews.in/did-savarkar-write-mercy-petitions-on-gandhis-advice-as-claimed-by-rajnath-singh/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=newpost