'Don't think Gandhi is father of nation,' says Savarkar's grandson

MUMBAI: Ranjit Savarkar, the grandson of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on Wednesday said that he does not think that Mahatma Gandhi is the father of the nation as the country has many of such leaders who have been forgotten.

"I do not think Gandhi is the father of the nation. A country like India cannot have one father of the nation. There are thousands who have been forgotten...," Savarkar told ANI.

Ranjit Savarkar's remarks came after AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday alleged that the BJP will soon declare Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as 'the father of the nation'.

"They (BJP) are presenting distorted history. If this continues, they will remove Mahatma Gandhi and make Savarkar, who was accused of the murder of Mahatma Gandhi and was pronounced complicit in the inquiry of Justice Jeevan Lal Kapur, as the father of the nation," Owaisi told ANI while reacting on Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar filed mercy petitions before the British on Mahatma Gandhi's suggestion.

Speaking at the launch of the book 'Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition', on Tuesday, Union Defence Minister 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."