Abhinav Bharat
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Prasad Shrikant Purohit
Pragya Singh Thakur
| Abhinav Bharat | |
|---|---|
| Founders | Ramesh Upadhyay Prasad Shrikant Purohit Pragya Singh Thakur |
| Foundation | 2006 |
| Motives | Retaliatory violence against Muslims; creation of a Hindu Rashtra; |
| Headquarters | Mumbai |
| Active regions | India |
| Ideology | Hindutva |
| Notable attacks | |
| Status | Dormant (several leaders on trial for terrorism) |
| Means of revenue | Private donors; accused of siphoning military and religious funds[1] |
| Opponents | National Investigation Agency, Anti-Terrorism Squad[2] |
Abhinav Bharat is a Hindutva[3] organization[4][5] founded by retired Indian Army Major Ramesh Upadhyay[6][7][8] in 2006 in Pune, India. It has a large base in Madhya Pradesh. The organization is believed to be the revived form of the pre-Independence era Abhinav Bharat Society.[9][10][11] The activities of the organisations received widespread attention after Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested its member for the 2006 Malegaon bombings case.[12] It has no relationship to the Mumbai-based charitable trust of the same name.[13]
Abhinav Bharat was named after the Abhinav Bharat Society, an organisation founded by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1904. The original organization believed in armed revolution, and was responsible for the assassinations of some officers[which?] of the ruling British government before being disbanded in 1952.[14]
The current Abhinav Bharat was founded in 2006 by Ramesh Upadhyay[6][7] and lieutenant-colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit.[8][15] The first few meetings of the new group took place in 2007.[14] Himani Savarkar, the niece of Nathuram Godse and the wife of Vinayak Savarkar's nephew, was elected president of the group in 2008.[14] During the first few meetings of the organisation, the members discussed the idea that Hinduism was in danger and needed to be defended.[14] In 2008, several of its members were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the 2006 Malegaon bombings, and its official website was closed down.[16]