evidence: Savarkar submitted a minimum of five mercy petitions (MPs) in 1911, 1913, 1914, 1918, and 1920. Savarkarites claim that these were submitted not as an act of cowardice but "as an ardent follower of Shivaji, Savarkar wanted to die in action. Finding this the only way, he wrote six letters to the British pleading for his release." A perusal of the two available MPs will prove that there cannot be a lie worse than the claim that Savarkar’s MPs were in league with the tricks which Shivaji used to hoodwink the Mughal rulers successfully. The mercy petition dated 14th November, 1913 ended with the following words: