India, Sept. 2 -- Right-wing ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's grandnephew and petitioner in the defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Satyaki Savarkar, on Tuesday said that his granduncle "never hated Muslims" and that his writings showed "ways and means" for their progress.

Satyaki made the statement while being cross-examined in the case over Rahul Gandhi's alleged remarks about Vinayak Savarkar during a speech in London. Satyaki said that the remarks portrayed Vinayak Savarkar as an "extreme hater of Muslims" and a "mob lyncher".

During the 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 consid...