Top News

Satyaki Savarkar, grandnephew of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and the petitioner in the defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday said his granduncle “never hated Muslims”.

Satyaki made the remarks while being cross-examined in the case concerning Rahul Gandhi’s alleged comments about Vinayak Savarkar during a speech in London. He claimed the remarks portrayed his granduncle as an “extreme hater of Muslims” and a “mob lyncher”.

'Savarkar Never Hated Muslims' 

During cross-examination by advocate Milind D Pawar, Satyaki was asked to identify, without referring to his complaint, the exact words in Rahul Gandhi’s alleged speech that he considered defamatory.

He recited a passage in Hindi attributed to Gandhi in which Savarkar and five or six of his friends were allegedly said to have beaten a Muslim man.

“By these words, Vinayak Savarkar was portrayed as an extreme hater of Muslims and as a mob lyncher,” Satyaki said.

He then asserted that Vinayak Savarkar “never hated Muslims” and claimed that his writings showed “ways and means” for the progress of Muslims.

Difference In Personal Reputation 

During the cross-examination, Satyaki also acknowledged that his personal reputation was separate from that of Vinayak Savarkar.

He volunteered that his granduncle’s reputation in society was “certainly greater” than his own.

When asked whether Rahul Gandhi had publicly made allegations concerning the personal character or reputation of members of Satyaki’s family, he said he could not say.

The cross-examination forms part of the ongoing defamation proceedings over Rahul Gandhi’s alleged remarks about Vinayak Savarkar during his speech in London.