How Did VD Savarkar Get 'Swatantryaveer' Title? Here's What His Grandnephew Told Pune Court

Right-wing ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is often referred to as “Swatantryaveer” by his followers. But do you know how he got the title?

During the ongoing criminal defamation case in Pune against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, VD Savarkar’s grandnephew Satyaki revealed that the title “Swatantryaveer” was not conferred on him by any government but by the writer Sadashiv Ranade.

Satyaki, in his testimony, said, “It is true to say that the ‘Swatantryaveer’ title is not granted by the Government to Savarkar. It is not true to say that the title of ‘Swatantryaveer’ was not bestowed upon him by the people. It is true to say that I do not have any documentary evidence to show that the people conferred the title of Swatantryaveer on Savarkar. It is true to say that the title of Swatantryaveer is given to Savarkar in the biography written by Sadashiv Ranade. I do not know whether the title given to Savarkar by Ranade was his imagination.”

In his testimony, Satyaki also accepted that when Savarkar was in London for four years, he wrote several books, which were published under different authors’ names to avoid the attention of the British. However, he added that he had no idea what is written in those books.

The case pertains to Rahul Gandhi’s alleged defamation of Savarkar on various occasions over the years, one specifically being on May 5, 2023, in the United Kingdom.