Swami Aseemanand (born Naba Kumar Sarkar) is an Indian
Hindu renunciate and
Hindu nationalist
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" or the correct term ''Hindū rāṣṭ ...
Terror accused who was accused of masterminding the
Ajmer Dargah bombing,
Mecca Masjid blast
The Mecca Masjid blast occurred on 18 May 2007 inside the Mecca Masjid, (or "Makkah Masjid") a mosque located in the old city area of Hyderabad, capital of the Indian state of Telangana located very close to Charminar. The blast was caused by a ...
, and the
2007 Samjhauta Express bombings
The 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred around midnight on 18 February 2007 on the Samjhauta Express, a twice-weekly train service connecting Delhi, India, and Lahore, Pakistan. Bombs were set off in two carriag ...
— before being acquitted of all charges.
Aseemanand hailed from
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
and was a post-graduate in physics. He was inducted into
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
, a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
organisation at an early age, and then joined
Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram
Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram is an Indian social welfare organization based in Jashpur, in the Chhattisgarh state of India. It focuses on the welfare activities of members of Scheduled Tribes in remote areas of India. The organization is a constituent o ...
After being arrested by the
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...
, 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;
Aseemanand alleged custodial pressure behind the confessions and rejected any involvement.
NIA Special court accepted his claim, and went on to rule that the prosecutors had failed to prove their case, otherwise.
In February 2014, a controversy erupted over interviews given by Swami Aseemanand to an advocate-reporter of ''
The Caravan
''The Caravan'' is an Indian English-language, long-form narrative journalism magazine covering politics and culture.
History
In 1940, Vishwa Nath launched ''Caravan'' as the first magazine from the Delhi Press; it went on to establish its ...
'' magazine while in
Ambala
Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...
Central Jail.
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.
Early life
Aseemanand was born ''Naba Kumar Sarkar'' in
Kamarpukar located in the
Hooghly district
Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River.
The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsura (''C ...
of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
. (Over time he also used the aliases Jiten Chatterjee
and Omkarnath.) His father was Bibhutibhushan Sarkar, a noted freedom fighter, and his mother is Pramila Sarkar.
He is one of seven brothers.
His early life was influenced by
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...
and his world-renowned disciple
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...
. 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
The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public university in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 15 June 1960 wit ...
, at which time his association with the RSS got stronger. He went on to work for the RSS full-time as a
pracharak
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family") ...
in 1977 with the
Sangh Parivar
The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...
organisation Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA), which works for tribal welfare.
His name Aseemanand was courtesy his guru, Swami Parmanand, in whose ashram in
Bangramanjeshwar
Bangramanjeshwar (Bangramanjeshwaram) is a census town in Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India.
Demographics
As of 2011 Census, Bangramanjeshwar town had a population of 5,791 where 2,841 are males and 2,950 are females. Populatio ...
of
Bardhaman
Bardhaman (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an alternative name for the city, ...
Aseemanand stayed till 1988.
Activities in the Dangs district
In 1993, he came to the headquarters of VKA in Jaspurnagar in
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...
. After two years, Aseemanand was sent to
Dangs district of
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
to work with tribals in the area. Local tribals told him that
Shabari
Sabari (, sa, शबरी) is an elderly woman ascetic in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. She is described as an ardently devoted woman who received Rama's darshana and blessing due to her bhakti to him.
Story
Shabari was a woman from a vill ...
, from the ''
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
'', had lived in their forests, which influenced Swami Aseemanand to build a Shabari temple there.
[ 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.] "We demolished thirty churches and built temples. There was some commotion."
Forcible conversion of Christians
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
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
Hindu Jagran Manch also Called as H.J.M (translation: Forum for Hindu Awakening) is an Indian Hindu activist group affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). It focuses on activism against religious conversion and works for the reconve ...
. The tribals were animists
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, huma ...
before their conversion to Christianity. During an interview he claimed to have converted more than 40,000 people to Hinduism and demolished 30 churches in Dang district.
The RSS mouthpiece '' Organiser'' described him as "hero of the Dangs".
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
Ajmer Sharif Dargah (also Ajmer Dargah, Ajmer Sharif or Dargah Sharif) is a Sufi tomb (''dargah'') of the revered Sufi saint, Moinuddin Chishti, located at Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. The shrine has Chishti's grave (Maqbara).
Location
Ajmer Shari ...
and Mecca Masjid
Makkah Masjid or Mecca Masjid, is a congregational mosque in Hyderabad, India. It is one of the largest mosques in India with a capacity of 10,000 people. The mosque was built during the 17th century, and is a state-protected monument. It se ...
. Rajasthan ATS was led to track Aseemanand and he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...
(CBI) on 19 November 2010 from an ashram in Haridwar
Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district.
The city is situated on the righ ...
in Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
for his alleged involvement in the Ajmer Sharief, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express blasts. He was charged in June 2011 by NIA for planning the blast. He was conditionally granted bail in 2015 in the blast case. 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.
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.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aseemanand, Swami
People from Hooghly district
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks
University of Burdwan alumni
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Terrorism in India
Indian people imprisoned on charges of terrorism
Hindu nationalists
2007 Samjhauta Express bombings
21st-century Bengalis
Hinduism-motivated violence in India