by Mamta Sen
URL: http://www.covertmagazine.com/special-report3.html
MUMBAI: The year 2014 could well mark a new beginning for Abhinav Bharat, the right-wing Hindu group, which, its functionaries claim, has been helping the Intelligence Bureau with information on “infiltrators” and “agents”. They also claim that they are shocked that Abhinav Bharat has been branded a terror group by the Government after it was linked with the 11 accused — including Sadhvi Pragya Singh and Lt. Col. Purohit — apprehended in the Malegaon blasts case.
While the accused continue to be tried by the Nasik High Court for the role they played in the blasts, the organisation is silently trying to spread its wings across Maharashtra, as well as in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. It even plans to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Abhinav Bharat spokesperson Milind Joshirao told Covert that the effort now was to “get the organisation back on its feet” and that the candidates would be selected on the basis of a written test and an intensive training programme. “In our induction programmes strict discipline would be followed,” he added.
A top functionary associated with Abhinav Bharat insisted, “We have never given anyone any training in firearms or any such thing. It was because of us, and especially Purohit, that many ISI agents were arrested. We have no idea why he has been framed.”
Joshirao said that the organisation was in the process of getting from the High Court the trust deed papers that have been confiscated. “We have begun our activities from Pune and will soon be spreading across the country. We already have branches in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, and we want to invite persons with similar thoughts to join us irrespective of caste and creed,” he said. Age is no bar for an Abhinav Bharat membership, and anyone between nine and ninety will be allowed entry.
Abhay Vartak, spokesperson of Sanathan Sansthan — a Hindutva group which too was recently accused of promoting terrorism in Goa — said that his organisation would witness from a distance Abhinav Bharat’s efforts to restructure itself as a political outfit and would not join hands with it. “We are an educational organisation. Our name has been unnecessarily dragged into the controversy. Our main agenda is the promotion of meditation and religious activities and not political propaganda,” he asserted.
THE BHARATIYA Janata Party is, however, sceptical. “They have to define their goals, and secondly, define their method of work. Unnecessary secrecy never helps to build a social and political organisation. Abhinav Bharat as a concept and as a group was created by freedom fighter Veer Savarkar and was aimed against the British. When these people start talking of Abhinav Bharat they must define their goal precisely,” said BJP leader Madhav Bhandari. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad too was not supportive of the Abhinav Bharat’s political ambitions. VHP’s Maharashtra spokesperson Venkatesh Apdeo said, “It is up to them whether they want to get into politics or not. Who are we to advise them? Their role should be properly explained. The VHP is the foremost organisation for the protection of the Hindu vote. Besides, they are yet to prove that they are not a terrorist group”
