By Nirendra Nagar
The biggest charge against Lt. Col Purohit in the Malegaon blast is that he formed a radical Hindu nationalist organization ‘Abhinav Bharat’ with the aim of establishing a Hindu nation in India and carrying out violent acts in Muslim areas to take revenge for Islamic terrorism. Lt. Col Purohit participated in the meetings of this organization, and there is audio-visual evidence of this, so Purohit cannot deny it nor has he done so. However, he claims that his participation in these meetings was in his role as an intelligence officer and his purpose was to uncover their plans to prevent any unpleasant incidents. He also refers to the letters he wrote to some military officials, in which he expressed suspicion about Pragya and Indresh’s involvement in the Malegaon blast (read – Purohit’s letter – Indresh’s involvement in the blast).
But the counterpoint is that Purohit had provided this information to the army officials only AFTER the Malegaon blast, not BEFORE and that too fifteen days after the incident. Moreover, he never disclosed what he and his associates were doing before the blast. However, the recordings found on the laptop of Sudhakar Chaturvedi, a member of ‘Abhinav Bharat’, have revealed the bitter truth about the role and designs of Purohit and his associates.
What is Abhinav Bharat?
First, let’s understand what is ‘Abhinav Bharat’. Abhinav Bharat was actually a Hindutva organization, and there are differences of opinion on who founded it and when. Himani Savarkar, who hailed from the Godse family and also related to the Savarkar family by marriage, stated that RSS worker Sudhir Kulkarni started it in April 2008 and invited her to become its president, which she accepted. The proposal to make Himani Savarkar the president was made because she belonged to the Savarkar family, and it was V. D. Savarkar who, along with a few students, created a secret organization called Abhinav Bharat Society in 1905, which believed in armed revolution. However, after Savarkar went abroad in 1906, this organization remained inactive for years and was dissolved by Savarkar himself in 1952. Himani Savarkar passed away in 2015.
On the other hand, ATS claims that Lt. Col Purohit himself established this trust in June 2006 when he, along with a dozen of others, visited Shivaji’s fort in Raigarh, took blessings in front of Shivaji’s throne, and resolved to name the trust ‘Abhinav Bharat’. A few months later, in February 2007, this organization was registered as ‘Abhinav Bharat’ using the address of a builder Ajay Rahirkar in Pune. Ajay Rahirkar, who was a friend of Purohit from his school days, became the treasurer of this trust (Ajay Rahirkar is accused of raising funds for the Malegaon blast and is a co-accused in this case). Other prominent leaders included retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, whose telephonic conversation with Purohit we have read in Part 2.
The story of how “Abhinav Bharat Trust” got the land for its office is also interesting.
Land donated by an elderly woman
Ajay Rahirkar once told Purohit that an elderly woman had some vacant land that she wanted to hand over to a person or trust who would work for the welfare of the people. Ajay told Purohit that she might be reluctant to give the land to him (Ajay), but since Purohit was an army officer, she might give it to him. Purohit met the lady, and this is how Abhinav Bharat Trust acquired a place for its office.
Around the same time, an act of vandalism was reported in a nearby church. The unit asked Purohit to find out who was behind this vandalism. While pursuing the case, Purohit met a person named Sameer Kulkarni at the police station. Sameer was associated with the Sangh. Purohit also arranged for his bail. Through Kulkarni, Purohit also met Praveen Mutalik and Dayanand Pandey. Both of them were staunch proponents of Hindu ideology and considered vandalism and violence a legitimate part for achieving their goal. It was here that the seeds were sown in Purohit’s mind to work towards the establishment of a Hindu nation and to utilise Abhinav Bharat organization for this purpose. Retired Major Upadhyay and arms expert Rakesh Dhawade played a great role in influencing Purohit as we will get to know later on.
In 2010, Tehelka had accessed 37 audio tapes and two videos of Abhinav Bharat meetings. These recordings not only reveal the emerging bond between different extremist Hindutva activists across the country, but also their sense of ‘bitterness and hostility’ towards the Sangh. The members of the organisation believed that Sangh was moving away from its agenda of “hatred towards Muslims”.
In these tapes, the members of these extremist organisations have also admitted their role in the riots. For instance, R.P. Singh, an endocrinologist at Apollo Hospital, tells Dayanand Pandey, “We burnt 25 Muslims alive. Killed Muslims during the day, worked at the hospital at night. This work is necessary. We have to instil fear in their minds. There will be no more crying.”
In the same conversation, R. P. Singh talks about a plan to assassinate Vice President Hamid Ansari with former BJP MP B.L. Sharma ‘Prem’, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay and Lt Col Purohit in attendance. Singh is heard saying, “I have a very good relationship with Ashok Singhal ji of VHP. He is a remarkable man, but the Sangh guys did not allow him to continue (in office). RSS will have to pay for its treachery.”
In this conversation, Purohit admits that he was involved in two earlier blasts. He says, “Israelis are asking us for evidence of our involvement. What proof do they want? We have conducted two operations before, and both were successful. I provided the equipments for those.” In response, Major Ramesh Upadhyay says, “The blast in Hyderabad was done by our own man. Colonel will tell you who did it.”
In the next part of this series we will have a look at a detailed account of some conversations present in the tape.
(…to be continued tomorrow in Part 6)
(The author is a former editor of Navbharat Times website)