Swami Aseemanand

Swami Aseemanand (born Naba Kumar Sarkar) is an Indian[2] Hindu renunciate and Hindu nationalist activist who was accused of masterminding the Ajmer Dargah bombing, Mecca Masjid blast, and the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings—[3][4][5] before being acquitted of all charges.[6]

Swami Aseemanand
Born
Naba Kumar Sarkar[1]

Kamarpukar, Hooghly district, West Bengal, India
Other namesJiten Chatterje, Omkarnath
Parents
  • Bibhutibhushan Sarkar (father)
  • Pramila Sarkar (mother)

Aseemanand hailed from West Bengal and was a post-graduate in physics. He was inducted into Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu organisation at an early age, and then joined Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram

After being arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, on cues from a primary suspect he recorded a confession, in which he admitted to committing the attacks. He was subsequently charged by the NIA;[7] Aseemanand alleged custodial pressure behind the confessions and rejected any involvement.[8] NIA Special court accepted his claim, and went on to rule that the prosecutors had failed to prove their case, otherwise.[9][10]

In February 2014, a controversy erupted over interviews given by Swami Aseemanand to an advocate-reporter of The Caravan magazine while in Ambala Central Jail.[11][12] Aseemanand claimed the contents of the interview to be faked which were based on a sting-operation and threatened legal action; the magazine rejected the charges and allegedly release transcripts of the interviews.[13][14][15]

Early life

Aseemanand was born Naba Kumar Sarkar in Kamarpukar located in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. (Over time he also used the aliases Jiten Chatterjee[16] and Omkarnath.) His father was Bibhutibhushan Sarkar, a noted freedom fighter, and his mother is Pramila Sarkar.[17][18] He is one of seven brothers.

His early life was influenced by Ramakrishna and his world-renowned disciple Swami Vivekananda. As a student he was inducted into the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). A graduate in physics, he did his post-graduation from the University of Burdwan, at which time his association with the RSS got stronger. He went on to work for the RSS full-time as a pracharak in 1977 with the Sangh Parivar organisation Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA), which works for tribal welfare.[19] His name Aseemanand was courtesy his guru, Swami Parmanand, in whose ashram in Bangramanjeshwar of Bardhaman Aseemanand stayed till 1988.[20]

Activities in the Dangs district

In 1993, he came to the headquarters of VKA in Jaspurnagar in Chhattisgarh. After two years, Aseemanand was sent to Dangs district of Gujarat to work with tribals in the area. Local tribals told him that Shabari, from the Ramayana, had lived in their forests, which influenced Swami Aseemanand to build a Shabari temple there.[20] He was quite popular among Dang tribals. When Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram shunted him out of Dang over some controversy, the tribals refused to cooperate and he had to be brought back to placate them.[16] "We demolished thirty churches and built temples. There was some commotion."[21]

Forcible conversion of Christians

Human Rights Watch reported that Aseemanand played a huge role in the 1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat, where dozens of churches were burnt down or damaged. The Human rights watch also credited him with the "Unai hot springs conversion ritual" whereby Christian tribals in the district were taken to Asheemanand's ashram and then to the hot springs in Unai, where they were made to forcibly convert to Hinduism. The fieldwork of this conversion ritual was mostly done by the Hindu Jagran Manch. The tribals were animists before their conversion to Christianity.[22][23] During an interview he claimed to have converted more than 40,000 people to Hinduism and demolished 30 churches in Dang district.[21]

The RSS mouthpiece Organiser described him as "hero of the Dangs".[24]

Allegations, arrest and acquittal

Rajasthan's anti-terrorist squad (ATS) arrested Devendra Gupta on 29 April in connection with 2007 Ajmer Dargah bombing. During the course of his interrogation, Gupta allegedly mentioned that it was Aseemanand and Sunil Joshi who had brought him into their fold and persuaded him to carry out the attacks on Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid. Rajasthan ATS was led to track Aseemanand and he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 19 November 2010 from an ashram in Haridwar in Uttarakhand for his alleged involvement in the Ajmer Sharief, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express blasts.[25][26] He was charged in June 2011 by NIA for planning the blast. He was conditionally granted bail in 2015 in the blast case.[27] After a prolonged trial Swami Assemanand was acquitted in Ajmer dargah and Mecca Masjid blast cases by NIA Special Courts in March 2017 and April 2018.[28]

On 20 March 2019, a NIA Special court acquitted all four accused including Swami Aseemanand in Samjhauta Express Blast case. "The NIA Special Court has concluded that the investigating agency has failed to prove the conspiracy charge and ruled that accused deserve a benefit of doubt", NIA Counsel RK Handa said.[29]

References
  1. "Naba Kumar Sarkar vs National Investigation Agency on 28 August, 2014".
  2. "Swami Aseemanand's "interview" on his role in terror attacks triggers row". The Indian Express. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. "Swami Aseemanand: Myth of the Monk Who Preached Terror". 19 April 2018.
  4. Reghunath, Leena Gita (February 2014). "Swami Aseemanand's radical service to the Sangh". The Caravan. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  5. Jaffrelot, Christophe (March 2011). "How one non-violent Muslim changed the heart of the ideologue of Hindu bombers". The Caravan. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  6. "Swami Aseemanand, 3 others acquitted in 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing case". Hindustan Times. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  7. "In the words of a zealot". Tehelka. 15 January 2011. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  8. "Confessed involuntarily and under duress: Samjhauta blast accused Aseemanand - Times of India". The Times of India. 12 May 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  9. "NIA court saw no merit in Aseemanand's 'confession'". The Hindu. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  10. "'Aseemanand's confession was not voluntary'". The Hindu. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  11. "Totally False And Fabricated". Outlook India. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  12. "What Aseemanand allegedly said about Narendra Modi, RSS and terror". NDTV. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  13. "The transcripts of all four interviews with Aseemanand". The Caravan. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  14. "RSS terror charges: Aseemanand threatens to sue Caravan scribe". Firstpost. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  15. "Aseemanand threatens to launch legal action against The Caravan". The Hindu. 8 February 2014. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  16. "Swami Aseemanand, as I know him". Rediff. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  17. Jaffrelot, Christophe (5 February 2011). "Paradigm Shifts by the RSS? Lessons from Aseemanand's Confession". Economic and Political Weekly. XLVI (6): 42–46.
  18. "My son has been framed, says Aseemananda's mother", The Indian Express, 27 November 2010, retrieved 3 November 2016
  19. "Samjhauta Express blast and accused Swami Aseemanand: All you need to know". OneIndia. 28 August 2014. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  20. "Terror has a new colour". The Asian Age. 16 January 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  21. Caravan, The. "How the Sangh conducted its ghar vapsi programmes in Gujarat's Dangs district". The Caravan. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  22. "IV. Violence in Gujarat". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  23. "Politics by Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in India". Refworld. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  24. "Aseemanand's journey from 'hero of Dangs' to terror attacks accused". Hindustan Times. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  25. "Terror probe: CBI arrests Aseemanand in Haridwar". The Indian Express. 20 November 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  26. "Aseemanand confessed role in Samjhauta blast, claims probe". The Indian Express. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  27. "NIA Ok with Bail for Aseemanand in Samjhauta Express Terror Case".
  28. IANS (17 April 2018). "Acquitted in two cases, Aseemanand still faces Samjautha case trial". Chennai, India: The Newsminute. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  29. "NIA fails to find killers of 68 Samjhauta Express passengers". TheIndependent.in. 20 March 2019.
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