Swami Aseemanand: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Indian Hindu monk|bot=PearBOT 5}}

|birth_name    = Naba Kumar Sarkar<ref>https://indiankanoon.org/doc/87120206/</ref>

'''Swami Aseemanand''' (born '''Naba Kumar Sarkar''') is an Indian n<ref>{{cite news |title=Swami Aseemanand's "interview" on his role in terror attacks triggers row |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/swami-aseemanands-interview-on-rss-role-in-terror-attacks-triggers-row/ |accessdate=4 August 2020 |work=The Indian Express |date=6 February 2014 |language=en}}</ref> [[sannyasa|Hindu renunciate]] who gained widespread media attention after a series of terrorist acts—the [[Ajmer Dargah bombing]], [[Mecca Masjid blast]], and the [[2007 Samjhauta Express bombings]]—<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/politics/swami-aseemanand-myth-of-the-monk-who-preached-terror|title=Swami Aseemanand: Myth of the Monk Who Preached Terror}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/believer|title=Swami Aseemanand's radical service to the Sangh|last=Reghunath|first=Leena Gita|date=February 2014|website=[[The Caravan]]|language=en|url-status=live|access-date=2019-12-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/perspectives/pacification-swami-aseemanand|title=How one non-violent Muslim changed the heart of the ideologue of Hindu bombers|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe|author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot|date=March 2011|website=[[The Caravan]]|language=en|url-status=live|access-date=2019-12-31}}</ref> before being acquitted of all charges.<ref name="hindustantimes.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/samjhauta-express-blast-nia-court-acquits-all-accused-including-aseemanand/story-UICq9OHZFmd2799Ntm0cxM.html|title=Swami Aseemanand, 3 others acquitted in 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing case|date=2019-03-20|website=Hindustan Times|language=en|access-date=2019-12-31}}</ref>

Aseemanand hailed from a respected family in [[West Bengal]] and was a post-graduate in physics. He was inducted into [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]], a [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu]] organisation at an early age, and then joined [[Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram]], where he went on to yield considerable influence.

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;<ref name="tehelka">{{cite web |url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ne150111Coverstory.asp |title=In the words of a zealot |publisher=Tehelka |date=15 January 2011 |accessdate=2011-11-19 |archive-url=https://archive.is/20130104224803/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ne150111Coverstory.asp# |archive-date=4 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Aseemanand alleged custodial pressure behind the confessions and rejected any involvement.<ref name="TOI 2011">{{Cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Confessed-involuntarily-and-under-duress-Samjhauta-blast-accused-Aseemanand/articleshow/8270299.cms |title=Confessed involuntarily and under duress: Samjhauta blast accused Aseemanand - Times of India |newspaper=The Times of India |date=12 May 2011 |access-date=2016-11-01}}</ref> NIA Special court accepted his claim, and went on to rule that the prosecutors had failed to prove their case, otherwise.<ref name="The Hindu1">{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/nia-court-saw-no-merit-in-aseemanands-confession/article23654734.ece |title=NIA court saw no merit in Aseemanand's 'confession'|work=The Hindu|date=24 April 2018 |accessdate=2019-03-21}}</ref><ref name="The Hindu2">{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/nia-court-saw-no-merit-in-aseemanands-confession/article23654734.ece |title='Aseemanand's confession was not voluntary'|work=The Hindu|date=21 April 2018 |accessdate=2019-03-21}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Outlook India">{{cite news |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/totally-false-and-fabricated/289462 |title=Totally False And Fabricated|publisher=Outlook India |date=7 February 2014 |accessdate=2019-03-21}}</ref><ref name="NDTV">{{cite web |url=http://www.ndtv.com/article/cheat-sheet/what-aseemanand-allegedly-said-about-narendra-modi-rss-and-terror-480088 |title=What Aseemanand allegedly said about Narendra Modi, RSS and terror |publisher=NDTV |date=6 February 2014 |accessdate=2014-02-06}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/swami-aseemanand-interviews|title=The transcripts of all four interviews with Aseemanand|last=Caravan|first=The|website=The Caravan|language=en|access-date=2019-12-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/rss-terror-charges-aseemanand-threatens-to-sue-caravan-scribe-1379939.html|title=RSS terror charges: Aseemanand threatens to sue Caravan scribe|website=Firstpost|access-date=2019-12-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/aseemanand-threatens-to-launch-legal-action-against-the-caravan/article5665317.ece|title=Aseemanand threatens to launch legal action against The Caravan|date=2014-02-08|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-12-31|others=Special Correspondent|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

[[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 [[animism|animists]] before their conversion to Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/indiachr/christians8-04.htm|title=IV. VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT|website=Human Rights Watch|url-status=live|access-date=2020-04-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a84b4.html|title=Refworld {{!}} Politics by Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in India|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|website=Refworld|language=en|access-date=2020-04-11}}</ref> During an interview he claimed to have converted more than 40,000 people to Hinduism and demolished 30 churches in Dang district.<ref name="swamiquote">{{Cite web|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/vantage/how-sangh-conducted-its-ghar-vapsi-programmes-gujarat-dangs-district|title=How the Sangh conducted its ghar vapsi programmes in Gujarat's Dangs district|last=Caravan|first=The|website=The Caravan|language=en|access-date=2020-04-11}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/terror-probe-cbi-arrests-aseemanand-in-haridwar/713573/1 |title=Terror probe: CBI arrests Aseemanand in Haridwar |work=The Indian Express|date=20 November 2010 |accessdate=2011-11-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/aseemanand-confessed-role-in-samjhauta-blast/734614 |title=Aseemanand confessed role in Samjhauta blast, claims probe |work=The Indian Express|date=7 January 2011 |accessdate=2011-11-19}}</ref> He was charged in June 2011 by NIA for planning the blast. He was conditionally granted bail in 2015 in the blast case.<ref>http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/nia-ok-with-bail-for-aseemanand-in-samjhauta-express-terror-case-1206239</ref> 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.<ref name="IANS">{{cite news|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/acquitted-two-cases-aseemanand-still-faces-samjhauta-case-trial-79690|title=Acquitted in two cases, Aseemanand still faces Samjautha case trial|author=IANS|date=17 April 2018|accessdate=2019-03-20|publisher=The Newsminute|location=Chennai, India}}</ref>