India / Mahatma Gandhi asked Savarkar to file mercy plea before British: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Noting that there had been "deliberate attempts to defame" Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that it was on Mahatma Gandhi's request that he wrote mercy petitions to the British.

Speaking at the launch of the book 'Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition', Singh said, "Lies were spread about Savarkar. Time and again, it was said that he filed mercy petitions before the British government seeking his release from jail."

"It was Mahatma Gandhi who asked him to file mercy petitions," he added.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union Ministers Gen VK Singh (retd), Jitendra Singh, Parshottam Rupala and Arjun Ram Meghwal were among those present at the event.